


The Spirit Stone

by wirelychee



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (...and then there's sokka lol), Aang & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Long-Haired Zuko (Avatar), M/M, Mostly Gen, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Prisoner Zuko (Avatar), Protective Toph Beifong, This Is Getting Complicated, Zuko joins the gaang, also damn we gotta end the war too, and they're re-introducing zuko to the world, but at least sokka still gets to go shopping so it's all good, but there's always time for some peak dumbass ideas, hello zuko here alone, i'm sure that goes well, lmao i love that there's a tag for that, multi POV because i absolutely love writing the whole gaang, no wait now the whole gaang's here, so many traumatic events so little time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 85,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26938930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wirelychee/pseuds/wirelychee
Summary: Hidden in the deepest darkest corner of the Palace, the imprisoned Prince Zuko serves out his punishment and waits - andwaitsto be pardoned and released by his father.Not knowing that Fire Lord Ozai has already declared to the world that his son has died.Until a strange group of kids invade the Royal Palace, and accidentally rescue the formerly dead Prince Zuko...-- their invasion had gone to shreds since the Fire Lord had disappeared - and now there was an unconscious maybe-probably-enemy lying by his feet -“Oh great, NOW what??” Sokka flailed both of his hands towards the boy. “When I said we could loot some stuff from the Royal Palace, I didn’t mean THIS!!”Katara ignored his extremely valid point as usual.  “We need to hurry,” she said, as if Sokka didn’t already know that, it was HIS plan. “Can you carry him, Sokka? We have to take him with us.”
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 526
Kudos: 1925
Collections: A:tla, Quality Fics





	1. Dead to the world

**Author's Note:**

> _Me:_ Soooo, I want to write a fic where the Gaang finds an imprisoned Zuko, they all become very close friends (after some difficulties), and then together defeat the Fire Lord in a completely different way. Also, Sokka & Zuko will go on a life-changing shopping trip!! Yayyy, let’s do that!! :DD
> 
>  _Also me:_ Has to conduct a looooong elaborate AU plot in order for that to happen, consequently loses whatever little sleep I had... *deep sigh*
> 
> Anyway, this fic has been kind of a personal therapy project (Uncle, that's what ALL fanfic is!!) - and well, effectiveness is still pending, probably completely offset by sleep deprivation... But if someone else gets something out of this story too, then 1.) that's fantastic!! and 2.) please I'd love to hear from you, always!! <333

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Topic warning:** First chapter contains emotional and physical abuse, because you know, _Ozai._ Now perhaps even shittier than usual. Also, a general blanket warning for depression/self-destructive thoughts, since Zuko is unsurprisingly quite unhappy about this whole thing. 
> 
> But then, things will get better...

_In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself, that is the meaning of inner strength. - Iroh (The Avatar Day)_

_Knock knock, hello, Fire Lord? Anybody home? - Sokka (The Library)_

_  
_

* * *

***

_**1\. Dead to the world** _

***

_~~Day ----~~ _

\-- since the last time Zuko had seen the sun.

No, actually scratch that, maybe it was better _not_ to know anymore.

\--------

Zuko opened his eyes and, as usual, everything was completely dark. 

For a few tense moments his sleep-addled brain couldn't figure out what had woken him up, but then he heard the echoing metallic clang of heavy locks being opened.

It had to be one of the servants, it couldn't be anyone else anymore -- 

He sat up with a heavy sigh, and flicked his hand tiredly towards the lantern he knew was nearest to him. Softly flickering flames replaced the darkness, and the chamber was cast in a warm dim glow. But even with all the lanterns lit up, there was so little light in his room that he felt like he was never really _awake_ \-- just like he was always sleeping, but never really _resting_. 

Throughout most of his childhood Zuko used to wake up almost every day at first sign of daybreak, but of course back then he could still tell the time of day just by feeling the path of the sun across the sky, no matter where he was.

Now the only sky above him consisted of steel beams and thousands of tons of volcanic rocks.

And the only thing that woke him up anymore was one of his two servants coming in to bring him breakfast every morning - or at least he assumed it to be morning whenever they came. 

Zuko watched warily as the steel door slowly creaked open. He was still endlessly frustrated that the possibility of _someone else_ opening the door was equally as stressful as absolutely _no one_ opening the door anymore - and both cases would probably lead to the same end result... 

But his anxiousness eased up once he saw the familiar figure of one of the servants enter through the doorway, carrying a tray of food.

There were only two servants that ever came inside the room - today it was the elderly woman, with her silvery hair always gathered up in a tight bun. She had served the Royal Family for as long as Zuko could remember -- he had a vague memory of seeing her washing dishes in the kitchens, when he and Azula had snuck off to steal some sweet rice-buns in the mornings, a very long time ago...

The servant walked in with a perfect posture belying her age, and left the tray on the table. She turned to look at Zuko still sitting on his bed. She didn’t talk much, let alone smile, but for some reason she seemed to be unwaveringly dedicated on keeping him alive. 

“Good morning, Prince Zuko,” she said, her voice restrained but not unkind, and bowed slightly to him. 

The same routine courtesy she performed every time she brought him food - though sometimes he felt like she wasn’t just being polite, but also subtly checking if he could actually still talk.

“Morning,” Zuko said quietly. “Thank you, Kyoko.”

Kyoko nodded to him, bowed again and left. She had been in his prison room for barely a minute, when the doors already closed behind her and Zuko could hear again the sound of heavy locks sliding back into place.

The other servant was a middle-aged man called Zhuang, with a stern face and a well-trimmed beard. Usually his only acknowledgment of Zuko was a slight respectful bow, face kept still as stone. But both Kyoko and Zhuang brought him food and helped to keep his prison room clean, which was more than Zuko could ask for at this point, so he tried to treat his committed servants with as much courtesy as possible.

He looked over at the breakfast tray that Kyoko had left on the table - which was his lunch and dinner too, since the servants only came once a day. 

Reluctantly Zuko got up from the bed, and braced himself for pain, but -- at least walking didn't feel _that_ bad anymore. Maybe he really was getting better.

He went over to the table, and was surprised to see that today, along with the usual bowl of rice-porridge, there was a stove-warm sesame-bread and some freshly picked fruits, which were probably from the Palace Garden. He frowned at that, anything out of the ordinary felt immediately suspicious to him - even when it was something seemingly good...

He was probably just being too paranoid, maybe there was a special occasion of some kind? Even in his prison room the air felt more humid than usual, so it was possible people were celebrating summer solstice already. Maybe.

Not that it made any difference to him...

He sat down wearily, and took the bowl of cold rice-porridge to heat up between his hands, waiting for it to get warm enough to eat.

Sometimes Zuko wished his rigid old firebending instructors would see how all their years of painstakingly teaching firebending forms to the Fire Lord's son had culminated on him becoming _really good_ at heating up leftover scraps from the kitchen.

Truthfully, he was still surprised that he could firebend _at all_ anymore, even after being completely deprived of the sun for years. Now, his fire was the only source of light he had left, and he usually tried not to dwell on too much what would happen if he lost it... but he couldn't ignore that possibility anymore. He wasn't sure how long he had been underground by now, but every day it was getting more and more likely that one day he'd wake up in the darkness, and it would remain that way.

Just thinking about it made him feel anxious, and he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

Those rigid old instructors had told Zuko time and again during lessons, with their ominously grim voices, that it wasn’t healthy for firebenders to be separated from the warmth and power of Agni for too long --

Zuko looked down at the rice-porridge, now scalding hot and nearly burnt.

\- _I know, that’s why I’m here._

* * *

_Day 1_

It wasn't supposed to go like this.

Zuko had already accepted the Agni Kai as a punishment for his reckless impulse to speak out in the war meeting, and he'd been ready to duel with General Bujing and face the consequences of his actions. Uncle Iroh had given him some words of advice and a few encouraging pats on the shoulder, while looking very troubled like he always did whenever he was with Zuko. 

After reassuring Uncle Iroh that he could handle it, Zuko had gone to bed and mentally prepared himself for the next day. He was fairly confident he could hold his own against the old General, but he had also known what losing in an Agni Kai might mean for him --

\- but then -- none of that had happened, and now he didn't know anything anymore...

Several hours before sunrise and the intended Agni Kai duel, Zuko was woken up by the royal guards grabbing his arms and dragging him out of his bed. They were the same guards who were supposed to protect him, and he was too bewildered to even consider fighting against them. They bound his hands and blindfolded him, and then led him somewhere deep below the Palace. 

After the blindfold was removed Zuko found himself in an underground chamber, with a high ceiling carved into the black volcanic rocks and upheld by stone pillars and beams of steel. The room was gloomy and dark, only lit by three simple lanterns hanging from the ceiling. There wasn’t much else there, one bed and a table with chairs, and a deep indent in the wall that had been turned into a small washroom - the bare necessities to make it livable for a human being. 

There was no sign of anything else having been stored in the chamber - before one disgraced Fire Nation Prince anyway.

It was clear that the room had been prepared to hold a prisoner, and Zuko watched with growing panic as the guards closed the heavy steel door behind him with a loud metallic clang.

He was left there alone with no explanations, and his mind started running through every possible worst case scenario for this situation that he could think of -- since there really didn't seem to be any possible best case scenarios...

\-- why did people keep waking him up in the middle of the night, only for something awful to happen??

It was hard _not_ to think about his mother coming to say goodbye to him urgently in the middle of the night, two years earlier. And that he’d never seen her again after that...

He tried to distract himself by inspecting the chamber, but there wasn't much he could do there - it seemed to be constructed to keep things sealed in as securely as possible, and not for much else. The room was significantly higher than it was wide, with tall walls of steel and smooth solid rock, and it didn't take long to inspect every inch of the available floor space. 

Zuko realized that this must be one of the steel vaults beneath the Royal Palace, hiding treasuries no one aside from the Fire Lord and his closest advisories was ever supposed to know about - and Zuko wouldn't have known about them either, if Azula hadn't once secretly and haughtily bragged to him that of course _she’d_ been told ALL about them. Zuko had highly doubted the truthfulness of her claims at the time - but now it seemed like he'd been locked into one of those vaults... Once again, Zuko had been wrong and Azula had been right. 

So, there was no way out, and nothing he could do but wait, and wait -- 

For most of the day Zuko huddled on the bed, disoriented and on the verge of panic. Finally his anxiousness started to give in to exhaustion as the waiting dragged on and on - he curled up against the pillow and almost dozed off, before somewhere around midnight he finally heard the door opening. 

It had to be his father, though Zuko wasn't sure whether to be hopeful or terrified about that... He hated the way his hands and legs shook as he got down on the floor, and tried to mentally prepare himself again for whatever was about to happen.

The Fire Lord entered the room, and Zuko bowed respectfully before tilting up his head to face his father. Ozai came to stand in front of Zuko, regarding his son in the tense appraising silence that he always did -

Zuko debated himself whether it would be better to remain quiet, or to try to apologize - for something - he wasn't sure for what anymore - but he must've done something wrong -- something else or -

\- should he apologize again for his insubordination - or not going to the Agni Kai, or --

"Prince Zuko, there has been an alteration to your punishment." 

Zuko held his breath, after hearing his father's voice he didn't dare to move or say anything.

"As you should have realized by now, your intended Agni Kai with General Bujing has been rescinded," the Fire Lord said, watching Zuko sharply. "The disrespectful behavior you displayed in the Fire Lord's Chamber and in front of the War Council has forced me to reassess the efficacy of your punishment."

The Fire Lord walked closer, and Zuko couldn't strain his neck to look up at him anymore. Instead he stared at the door with glazed eyes, bracing himself for his father's judgment --

"As a result, I had no choice but to conclude that an Agni Kai would be insufficient in changing your recurring habit of insubordination, and your unfortunate inability to follow the social etiquette required of the Crown Prince," Ozai said. Then he paused long enough that Zuko looked up again and met his father's eyes. Ozai smiled slightly, and continued, "The amended punishment is now one year of involuntary confinement. If during this time you prove yourself to be capable of following the rules and controlling your own reckless behavior, I will consider that you have redeemed yourself and earned back your honor as the Crown Prince."

Zuko opened his mouth to say something, but all words got stuck in his throat. It shouldn't have been surprising, this place was clearly a prison, but - only criminals were imprisoned, and Zuko wasn't a criminal - he wasn't --

Ozai did not seem to pay mind to Zuko's stupefied reaction. "During your confinement you are required to finish the studies and tasks assigned to you by your academic tutors," Ozai paused again, and when he continued his voice was colder than ice, "- and you are forbidden from firebending until you have served out your punishment."

"Wh - what --"

"Any rules that you break will prolong the time of your confinement." Ozai kept his gaze locked on him, and Zuko felt like he'd been pinned down by one of the stone pillars. His chest felt heavy, and he could barely even blink. 

"But I was - I was ready to --" Zuko said, or tried to say - his voice sounded pathetic even to his own ears.

His father ignored Zuko's stuttering, and gave him one last measuring look.

"I assume the terms of your punishment are clear to you. Your year of confinement will be effective as of today."

The Fire Lord turned away to leave, and Zuko tried to desperately search for words to still prove himself to his father, that he could do better than this - that he could _be_ better than this, and he didn't need to be locked away for a year to prove it, but - he couldn't protest against the Fire Lord - the Fire Lord's word was absolute -- 

\- but his father couldn't just leave him here, he couldn't --

"I was ready for the Agni Kai!!" Zuko cried out to his father's retreating back. "I can still do it!! This isn't - this isn't necessary -- I'm ready to duel with General Bujing, or - or face another punishment, but I can still _fight_ to regain my honor!!"

The guards were already opening the door for the Fire Lord, but he turned around to face Zuko with a sharp look.

"Your punishment has already been decided, I believe I made myself very clear about that," Ozai said coldly. He was silent for a beat, and then raised a questioning eyebrow at Zuko. "And I do recall that you have frequently promised to be my loyal and dutiful son - tell me, Prince Zuko, was that not true?"

Zuko went deathly still under Ozai's piercing eyes, and couldn't think of anything to say to that. And while his mind remained blank and frozen, there wasn't anything he could do but watch as the doors closed, and he was left alone in his prison.

He didn't see his father after that day, not for a very long time...

* * *

During the first year of his confinement, Zuko still had hope that his father had been telling the truth about his punishment. He was determined to prove himself to be the Fire Lord's loyal son and worthy of his father's respect. He couldn't fail on that promise anymore, and he did unquestioningly everything asked of him.

On the second day of his confinement, he'd been brought a year’s worth of books and scrolls to continue his studies - in order to show discipline he had to prove to everyone that he could learn all the required materials and complete all of his assignments by himself without the guidance of his tutors and instructors.

Zuko was relieved to have a goal to work towards, so he studied dutifully and with intense conviction every day. He made himself a calendar that he meticulously used to keep track of time - as much as he could in an underground prison - and with naive determination he had started to count the days until he regained his freedom.

He wrote countless of study notes in preparation to be tested on topics ranging from in-depth political history of the Fire Nation and timelines of their military conquests, to detailed nautical maps of the Fire Nation Archipelago, and other additional materials such as the most significant natural resources of Earth Kingdom colonial villages... 

He even painstakingly tried to perfect his calligraphy skills, and memorized long verses of old poetry he’d never had any interest in.

In order to gain back his freedom, Zuko was prepared to answer and do _anything_ his tutors might ask him. So, he tried, and tried. He read his books again and again, he practised and studied and kept counting the days until his father would release him. 

It would only be a year, he could deal with it.

* * *

Then, to his surprise, Azula started visiting him regularly.

Zuko could never understand _why_ Azula did something, so he tried to ignore her, and her possibly malicious motives as much as he could. But Azula had never been easy to ignore --

“You know that’s totally pointless, right?”

Azula sat on his bed, legs casually crossed and leaning back on her hands. She was watching him with her usual self-assurance, which was even more infuriating now that she was purposefully flaunting her freedom in his prison. 

She just seemed to be amused by Zuko's glaring, so with an annoyed frown he returned to ignoring her and studying the open scroll in front of him. He read the next paragraph detailing Fire Lord Zoryu’s clashes with rebellious clans, and took out a map from under the scroll - connecting historical events to their exact locations on the maps had always made it easier for him to memorize them. He concentrated on cross-referencing the text and the maps, and stubbornly avoided looking in Azula's direction. If he didn’t reply, maybe she would get bored with him and leave --

But of course, Zuko’s silence only spurred her on. 

“Your dedication is adorable, Zuzu," she said, and the smug smile was just oozing from her voice, "- but that information won’t be any use to someone who’ll spend the rest of their life in an underground prison."

“I’m getting out of here in a year, you know that!!” Zuko hissed between his teeth, still trying not to look at her. 

“The problem is that YOU don’t know that. It’s your own stubborn head who refuses to accept the truth, dumdum,” Azula scoffed. “Father doesn’t care about your stupid _studies_ , he’s too ashamed of you to ever show you to the public again. Everyone will think you’re dead for the rest of your life. No one will even notice when you’re _actually_ dead.”

Azula got the reaction she’d been fishing for when Zuko finally turned and threw one of his books at her - which she effortlessly dodged and it landed on the bed behind her with a soft thud. 

“I’m not sure why you’re mad at _me_. I’m just trying to make you accept the truth.”

“You always lie about everything! Why should I believe you over dad!” He stared at her accusingly, eyes blazing with anger, and Azula's smile merely grew larger. She just seemed to gain more energy the more miserable Zuko was - as always.

“If you used your head for even a moment you’d know that I’m right, dumdum. But sure, keep on deluding yourself, I don’t care.”

Azula got up and walked over to his table, just to take a piece of fruit from the tray and pop it in her mouth with a pointed smirk. Zuko glared at her, lamenting the loss of what little food he had. 

She looked down at the scrolls and maps on the table. 

“What are you even reading?” 

After a brief glance at the text, she chuckled, “You’re a bit behind aren’t you, we already had that in the Fire Academy history lessons last year. Better catch up soon, dumdum. Not that it matters.”

Azula sauntered over to the door and knocked to let the guards know she was leaving. She threw one last wicked smile at him as a parting gift.

“Have fun with your studies, Zuzu. I’d say hi to dad from you, but I don’t think he even remembers you anymore,” with that she left, and Zuko was once again alone, seething in his anger.

Zuko had tried to practise meditation during his confinement, but he doubted that any amount of meditation would ever calm down the sheer amount of shimmering fury that Azula managed to arise in him. She had always acted like her superiority over Zuko was just the natural order of things and nothing could be done about that, _ever_ , and everything Zuko tried to do to improve himself was just a waste of time.

And now -- what made everything even worse was the nagging fear at the back of his mind - that maybe Azula actually _was_ telling the truth. Maybe he wasn't going to be released after all, and all of his efforts were for nothing - and he was going to be locked down here until his miserable end...

But Zuko wasn’t going to give up, not yet - he had to be ready if there was even the tiniest chance he’d be able to return to the world. Giving up wasn’t an option. 

Not if he wanted to live, and he did. Despite everything he still did.

* * *

Studying history and geography from old scrolls was fine and manageable in these circumstances, but Zuko was starting to get increasingly anxious about not being allowed to firebend anymore. 

He still couldn't understand _why._ When his father had told him about this rule on the first day, Zuko had accepted it unquestioningly. And now he was extremely frustrated with himself, because he had been too cowardly to tell his father that actually - he hadn't understood the terms of his punishment at all... 

And now he might accidentally risk his freedom by disobeying rules that he didn't know. 

There was no way around the fact that Zuko needed to use at least some form of firebending every day, mostly for basic tasks like heating food or water, and lighting up lanterns - so prohibiting firebending _completely_ seemed to be an unreasonable request even for a prisoner. 

Eventually, he had no choice but to take the risk and assume that the rule meant he wasn't allowed to practise or use any firebending forms, other than using fire as a basic source of heat or light.

But Zuko was also fairly certain that he would be tested on his mastery of the basic firebending katas after his release - and he had no idea how to prepare for those without being able to use fire -- how to practise swimming without water, or flying without air... He definitely didn't want the lack of physical practise to weaken his skills even further - he was already too far behind Azula as it was. 

He couldn't help but wish that he'd still have the dao-swords that were hidden in his own bedroom...

He wasn't sure if his father had known that Zuko had continued to train with the dual swords, even after his mother's disappearance - but at least Zuko had never told Ozai directly about that. He had only managed to attend a few sessions with a renowned sword master, before Ursa had abruptly ended the lessons. Zuko strongly suspected that had something to do with his father, so he felt it would be better not to ask about sword training, or even mention it anymore.

There was no doubt that the Fire Lord would have seen Zuko's desire to train with weapons as further proof of his weakness and lacking talent in firebending --

He would have been right, of course.

But Zuko still had kept the dao-swords his mother had given him and trained with them by himself, even if he hadn't had a master to teach him for years. And now he would have plenty of time and privacy to practise, but of course that would require to have actual weapons to train with...

There wasn’t really anything in the room he could use as makeshift swords either, or any other kind of useful weapon - unless he wanted to practise his aim by throwing his text books, which was getting tempting... But he did have two wooden chairs, and just for practising forms he didn't need actual swords, just something with a similar shape --

And no one would notice a missing chair, right?

He’d broken one of the chairs into pieces, and sharpened the longest pieces of intact wood, slowly and carefully alternating between burning them in tiny controlled increments, and cooling them with water - until finally the shape resembled enough of a blade to be an acceptable sword-substitute.

The rest of the chair Zuko had burned to ashes, and hidden in the trash they sometimes collected from him.

So, maybe he didn’t have actual swords so much as two sharp wooden sticks, but they were better than nothing - and more importantly he had something else to do aside from endless studying and drudging through the long lightless days of his confinement.

* * *

The Fire Lord never came to oversee how Zuko's studies had progressed. 

Azula's taunts about their father having forgotten Zuko echoed in his mind, but he didn't allow them to deter him. He was still painstakingly alternating between studying and his kata-practises - while his energy levels slowly decreased due to lack of sunlight.

As long as Zuko obeyed orders, did everything asked of him and proved his worth to the Fire Lord -- it should be fine. 

It _would_ be fine.

If it wasn’t for Azula.

Not long after he’d created his wooden swords and resumed kata-practise with his new improvised methods, Azula came to visit again and Zuko nervously watched as she prowled around his prison room, knowing that her sharp eyes never missed anything.

“What do you want, Azula?”

“You're always so paranoid, Zuzu. I’m just visiting my _favorite_ brother - or prisoner I suppose is more accurate these days," Azula gave him her twisted version of a sweet smile. "And why are you complaining, I thought you’d appreciate some company. Must get pretty boring around here.” 

“The company of _nothing_ is preferable to yours, any day!” Zuko snapped, and glared at her, which just made her smile wider. Anything Zuko said was always just a bit of dirt she could flick off with a shrug.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Zuko,” she said, and turned her sharp eyes at him. “What about dad then, do you like his company, hmm?”

Zuko gritted his teeth. That wasn’t a question he was going to answer. Ever. 

“He’s not around much.” 

“Oh, I’m _sure_ he’s just been too busy to visit you."

Azula sat down on the bed like she always did, watching him with a leisurely smirk like this was just another casual place for her to lounge around whenever she wanted. And as usual, Zuko tried to ignore her and went back to his studies.

"You know, you should really decorate more, this place looks so - _depressing_.” Azula looked around with a disdainful expression. "Maybe I should bring you a cute little pillow or two next time..."

Azula turned back to Zuko, with a smirk still lingering on her lips, but then he saw her suddenly sit more upright. His shoulders tightened with tension just the slightest bit -- he knew Azula could sense his nervousness miles away. Zuko tried to keep his mind on the parchment where he was writing his notes, but he couldn’t concentrate on keeping his wrist straight and the ink kept dripping in the wrong places. 

He was unnerved by the way Azula kept staring at him -- no, not really at him. Something else. She tapped her red-painted lips with her finger, got up and walked over to Zuko's table, where he was sitting with his books and scrolls all laid out again.

Zuko set down his brush on the holder and looked up at her, preparing to come up with excuses for whatever she decided to accuse him of --

“Strange - the last time I was here,” Azula started, tapping the table with her perfectly polished nail, “I quite distinctly remember that you had two chairs by this table, yet there is only one chair now.” She smirked down at him. “ _How unfortunate,_ I was hoping we could enjoy a nice cup of tea here together.”

“I’m not sure what you mean -”

“Don’t play stupid with me, Zuzu,” Azula said, still casual but now there was something else in her tone. Something that had always meant Zuko needed to hide and quick, if he didn’t want to get smacked on the head by someone. “Did you do something with it? Maybe you’ve been a bit slack on your no-firebending rule -”

“I didn’t do anything, maybe one of the servants took it away,” Zuko said, shrugging a little, keeping his tone as unaffected as possible. “And you know that I have to use firebending to light the lanterns at least, how could I read anything without light? I’m sure dad will understand that.”

It was just a chair, it was just a stupid chair. Why should it matter what he did with it. 

“Oh, I’m _sure_ he will,” Azula said sweetly, “dad has been _so_ understanding of you breaking rules in the past.” She leaned in closer. “If you’re doing anything weird here, Zuzu, I’m going to tell dad - and I’m afraid he’s not going to be very happy with you...”

“Why are you so hung up on a stupid chair!!” Zuko snapped. He stood up and pushed her away from him. “It doesn’t matter if I have chairs or tables or anything!! There’s nothing useful I could do here anyway!”

“Hmmm, we’ll see.”

When Azula left that day, a feeling of dread filled Zuko that kept on lingering -- and he had to mentally force himself more than usual to focus on his studies.

It was only a year, he could do it. Azula couldn’t make him lose hope.

* * *

_Day 365_

It’s been a year. Today.

Zuko waited

\- and waited...

* * *

_Day 367_

Today.

After a year and two days, his father finally came to see him.

Zuko was ready. He had done everything he could have. Anything the royal tutors could think to question him about - history, politics, war tactics, geography, literature, calligraphy - anything, he was ready for it. 

The only thing he wasn’t properly prepared for was to be tested for the firebending katas, but surely his father would understand he couldn’t do that if he hadn’t been allowed to practise them.

Zuko kneeled on the floor in front of the Fire Lord and bowed deeply, patiently waiting for his father’s judgment. He was thrumming with nervous energy and excitement. He'd been expecting this day for so long, and counting days and then hours until he could go outside the Palace again and take a breath of fresh air. He could wander in the Palace Garden, and feel the sun on his skin. He could sleep in his own bed, and eat as much during dinner as he wanted. 

He could start practising firebending again, _properly_ practise and not have to pitifully hide even the smallest flames and limit his bending to heating some stupid porridge.

“Prince Zuko,” his father started, breaking the heavy silence after the door had closed. “Tell me, what have you learned while you’ve been serving out your punishment.”

Zuko got up on his knees, looking at his father with what he hoped was even a fraction of the same sort of unwavering confidence Azula always exuded.

“I deeply regret my earlier insubordination and the dishonorable manner in which I behaved during the war meeting,” Zuko said, having carefully practised every word. “I apologize for my actions, and I have learned my lesson to never disrespect the sanctity of the Fire Lord’s Chamber again.”

The Fire Lord only waited, regarding Zuko in silence, unreadable as always. 

Zuko took a short shaky breath, and continued, “And I have finished my studies on the books and scrolls assigned to me by my tutors. I’m confident that I can pass the examinations of the Royal Academy, and advance to the next level.”

Zuko stayed still, kneeling on the floor and waited. His father took a few steps further into the room, looking at the table where Zuko had neatly piled all of his study materials. It was hard to breathe, Zuko’s chest felt like it was slowly being constricted by a heavy rope with every step that approached him.

“Very well,” Ozai said. “And how have your firebending studies progressed -”

Zuko froze. 

A cold chill shuddered his entire body. But --

“I didn’t - I - I was under the impression that I’ve been forbidden from firebending,” Zuko said, hating the way his voice stuttered. Barely a minute had gone by, and there wasn’t a shred of Azula’s confidence left in him. “So, unfortunately I have not been able to progress in my kata-practise. But - but I did do --”

“Really now,” his father interrupted, “your sister was telling me otherwise. You were indeed prohibited from firebending, yet you decided to disobey this rule -”

Zuko’s jaw dropped open, and he immediately closed it with a snap. Azula -- but she didn’t see anything - she couldn’t have known - she had no evidence...

“I - well, I’ve been lighting the lanterns obviously, but I - I needed the light to study - and I --”

“I’m not talking about the lanterns, boy.”

Zuko still couldn’t understand. What had Azula told their father? Whatever it was, it must’ve been - 

“Azula was lying!! I didn’t firebend! - I _swear_ on my honor that I --”

He did, but it was just small things - heating his food, lighting the lanterns -- creating his wooden swords, but that was just one time... They shouldn’t be counted. _They shouldn’t!_

But then Zuko looked up at his father’s face, and suddenly realized his mistake with a horrified jolt -- a mistake that was possibly worse than any firebending he could’ve done --

“Prince Zuko, for your sake I hope you are _not_ accusing your sister, Princess Azula, of _lying_ to the Fire Lord?” Ozai said, voice tight with controlled fury. 

Zuko was quickly starting to feel like the floor was shattering to pieces under him, he had to hold on to something - something -

“No!! I - no - she was just - “

“I will _not_ tolerate your petty slander towards your sister,” Ozai said. Azula had clearly inherited their father's condescending look, because Zuko felt like he was being pinned by Azula’s sharp eyes again - but he’d never experienced hatred that deep when faced with Azula. “Perhaps a few more months here will make you rethink your words, because you clearly haven’t learned respect and discipline as well as you had claimed.”

Zuko stayed kneeling on the floor for a long time after his father had left, and the corridor behind the door was quiet again. The floor still felt unstable under him and he collapsed back to lean against the bed, the remains of all his pathetic hopes and expectations crashing down on him at once.

What just happened...

Zuko had done everything asked of him, and he was _still_ trapped in this lightless and suffocating prison. 

For a year, every single day, he had worked so hard - and then with only a few words Azula had destroyed all of it.

It wasn’t fair --

_it wasn’t fair..._

* * *

The next time he saw Azula, Zuko started yelling the minute she stepped through the door. 

“HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?? I WAS GOING TO BE FREE!! I ALREADY GOT MY PUNISHMENT AND THEN YOU RUINED _EVERYTHING!!_ ”

Azula just rolled her eyes at him, and Zuko wanted to set her flawless glossy hair on fire and watch it burn. 

“Calm down, Zuzu, it was your own fault anyway. If you hadn’t been firebending then you wouldn’t have been punished again.”

“ _I wasn’t firebending!!_ Why would you lie about that??”

“Oh, c’mon, we both know _that’s_ a lie.”

“It’s not a lie!!” Zuko snapped. “I - I mean yeah, I used firebending sometimes, but only out of necessity. I wasn’t doing anything else with it, it doesn’t count!! You would’ve done the same!!”

Azula laughed at him, sharp as daggers. “Don’t be ridiculous, I would never _ever_ be imprisoned here in the first place. I’m not a pathetic mess like you.”

Now Zuko _was_ going to throw something at her, but when she saw he was reaching his boiling point she retreated back to the door. This must be her shortest visit yet - _good_. Zuko didn’t think he could stand the sight of her anymore without wanting to set either the room or Azula on fire - preferably both. 

Before leaving, Azula turned to look at him with a weirdly tight expression. “Anyway, I’m not sure what you expected. I _told_ you dad wasn’t going to let you out, I just gave him a reason for that. I wasn’t lying, you know.” She shrugged slightly. “Face it, Zuko, you’re going to spend the rest of your life here, however short that might be. Better get used to it.”

He painstakingly stomped down on his desire to just set everything in the whole room on fire -- maybe he wasn’t at a point yet where burning himself alive seemed like a good idea. 

Zuko wasn’t sure which one he was more angry at, his father or his sister -- or himself for being so easily fooled. He’d never felt more like a pawn in their game than now. 

Was he supposed to do something else rather than just wait to be released? Maybe he had been wrong all this time... He had thought if he’d just be obedient and patiently waited for his father’s verdict, he would earn his freedom.

But perhaps his father had seen that as an act of cowardice as well. Zuko had docilely accepted his imprisonment, and appeared weak by not even trying to fight against it.

Perhaps he was expected to truly fight for his own freedom.

* * *

_Day 397_

Zuko’s first big mistake was that he tried to escape.

The realization that maybe Azula had actually been telling the truth all this time started to occupy his mind -- the Fire Lord never had any intention of releasing Zuko after a year's confinement. 

In order to earn his father’s respect and prove himself worthy, maybe Zuko needed to get out of here on his own - or he would never get out at all... 

Now that his assigned studies were over and Zuko had no concrete goal to work towards, the walls gradually started creeping closer. The room began to shrink and the air turned even staler than before. The constant darkness and quietness loomed at the edges of his mind and chipped away the memories he had of the outside world.

He couldn’t take another month - or a whole damn year again - confined in this suffocating prison, not without the hope that had motivated him before.

So, Zuko needed an escape plan, and since he was already being punished for firebending, he wouldn’t need to hide using it anymore. 

The problem was - there wasn’t much in the room that he could use his firebending on, and the tightly enclosed space wasn't ideal for using the more powerful firebending forms anyway... The only flammable materials were the table, chair and the bedding, and they were of no use to him.

The walls and ceiling were made of hard and smoothly polished rock, and steel beams - Zuko had seen firebenders melt various kinds of metal before, but he had never seen anyone melt steel structures. Would that be even possible? The door on the other hand didn’t seem to be made from the same material. It looked like steel, but it was definitely weaker than the beams supporting the walls, and it might have been even hollow inside.

But then - he very quickly found out that even the metal on the door was incredibly difficult to melt, and that the fumes released from the heating metal made the already stale air even harder to breathe, and he’d probably suffocate long before he managed to escape.

Dejected, Zuko realized there really was only one time when he could escape - and that was when the servants were let in... He didn’t want them to get hurt accidentally - or punished for being involved in his escape, but he had no choice -- 

Zuko still resolved not to involve Kyoko in this, so it was at that one unfortunate morning for Zhuang, when he was leaving Zuko’s prison room and the guards were opening the door for him - 

Zuko quickly pulled Zhuang back into the room and threw him on the floor behind him. The guard was surprised enough that Zuko managed to kick him out of the way and get a fireblast at the guard behind him, before they had any time to react and defend themselves. 

They were definitely bigger and stronger than Zuko, and probably better firebenders too - but they’d also gotten complacent with Zuko’s prolonged imprisonment, thinking that he had no intention of escaping anymore.

That was their mistake - and knowing Azula, probably the last mistake of their careers, if not their lives. 

Zuko had no time to feel bad for them.

He didn’t look what the guards were doing behind him, Zuko kept his focus only on going forward and forward -- and he would’ve run as far as he could have, but there were more doors and more guards. 

And now just kicking one and attacking another didn’t help, when there was a third and fourth one grabbing his hands from behind -

\-- and then he was faced with Azula staring at him from the other end of a long corridor.

Azula was an obstacle he couldn’t pass, even in the best of circumstances, and Zuko didn’t resist as much as he could have when he was quickly overpowered and dragged back to his prison. There was still a kindling of hope in his mind that maybe he’d done what was expected of him. Maybe he’d shown that he was still strong and resilient, and could fight for his own freedom...

The moment his father came to see him, his fragile hopes shattered.

Zuko had been so wrong, so so wrong --

The Fire Lord’s face was cold and stormy, and even more hostile than usual. The heavy set of his dark royal robes and wide shoulderpiece seemed to block what little light there was in the room.

Zuko, who had been waiting for this inevitable confrontation standing with his head held high, automatically shrank back as his father walked slowly closer to him. This _really_ wasn't going as Zuko had expected it to --

“Prince Zuko,” Ozai loomed above him, “perhaps the rules of your punishment are still not clear to you. You shall be treated like any other _prisoner_ , before I have officially granted back your freedom. And as a prisoner of the Fire Nation, any attempts to escape your imprisonment _will_ be considered an act of crime against our nation, and as such, penalized accordingly.”

How could he have been so _stupid_ to expect anything else...

His father walked even closer to the spot where Zuko was still standing, frozen and speechless. 

“It was only a scant few weeks ago when you were told you would not leave here until you learned _respect_ and _discipline_ , and now you betray my trust and violate the terms of your punishment yet again...”

“But I --”

“And you always dare to claim to be my loyal son - ” Ozai sneered, “I should’ve known you’re every inch as deceitful as _your mother._ ”

Zuko felt like he’d been slapped. He backed away, suddenly remembering vividly the panic on his mother’s face when she had come to see him for the last time...

Ozai stopped his painfully slow approach right in front of him. Zuko wanted to stand his ground and show he was brave enough to take whatever punishment he deserved - and then hated himself when he anxiously stepped back from his father’s proximity.

“Did you use firebending to escape today.” 

“Yes, but I thought -”

“Show me your hands.”

Reluctantly Zuko held out his hands - Ozai inspected Zuko's face for a few terrifying seconds, before he glanced down and took a hold of his wrists, fingers gripping around them tighter than a mongoose-snake. Zuko stared at him eyes wide with fear and held his breath.

“Perhaps the rules were not clear enough for your understanding,” Ozai said, disdain dripping from his words, “so this time I’m being merciful to you. Be grateful. It seems you have trouble remembering that you are _forbidden_ from firebending in here, so I’ll leave you a reminder to help with your lacking memory.”

Zuko felt his wrists getting hot, the sleeves under his father’s grip started to burn and Zuko’s breath hitched.

Instinctively he tried to pull his hands back, but he couldn’t move an inch.

The cloth burned, and the skin underneath started to singe. Zuko had been burned before during firebending training, but never like this. An insistent throb of pain spread out from his wrists, and felt like it permeated his skin and seeped all the way down into his bones.

It didn't take long for the searing hot pain to become unbearable, and Zuko cried out desperately - and his father suddenly released him. He staggered back against the wall and slid down, holding his wrists and squeezed his eyes shut.

His father’s voice seemed to come from somewhere far away when he said, “Prince Zuko, you have just added another year to your imprisonment. If you are foolish enough to ever violate the rules of your confinement again, in _any_ manner, the penalty will be swift, merciless - _and final_. This is your last warning.”

Zuko was in so much pain he barely realized that his father had left. 

He sat there for a long agonizing moment, which could have lasted minutes or hours for all he knew. He cradled his shaking arms against his chest, his mind so hazy with pain that at first he didn’t even notice that Kyoko had come into the room, until she took hold of his wrists to look at them.

Zuko hissed in pain, but she paid no mind to that. Carefully she cut away the remainders of his burnt robe sleeves, and rinsed the wounds with water. Finally she applied a cooling salve to his damaged skin, and used a medical gauze to bandage his wrists and arms with experienced hands.

He could barely move his arms anymore, he couldn’t even feel his fingers. 

Kyoko helped him to bed, and took a small glass bottle from her pocket and held it for him to drink.

“This will help you to sleep,” she explained.

After he obediently drank whatever it was, she returned the empty bottle back into her pocket. 

“It’s better if you rest and try not to move your arms for a few days,” Kyoko said in a voice that Zuko had never heard her use before. “I will come to change your bandages tomorrow.” She sounded kinder and much more reassuring than usual, but her face still showed no reaction at all.

Zuko stared at Kyoko through a haze of dizzying pain, he couldn't understand how she seemed so unaffected -- why wasn’t she mad that she had to take care of this?? Wasn’t she angry at Zuko's father for doing this? Or disappointed in Zuko for trying to escape and getting punished again? 

Then he realized grimly that maybe - maybe she'd already known this was going to happen...

He watched her leave, and soon after drifted off to a pained and restless sleep.

* * *

The next few weeks went by painfully slowly. Zuko couldn’t do much but watch as the blistering red skin on his wrists and arms turned into ugly scars in the shape of fingers. 

Naturally, Azula came to feed off of his misery. 

Zuko barely lifted his head when he saw her coming into the chamber. Azula's whole demeanor was once again meticulously carefree, she might as well just have arrived at a dinner in the Royal Dining Hall. In contrast to her leisurely steps, Zuko sat curled up on his bed, making himself as difficult for Azula to pry open as possible. He pulled his robe sleeves further down to cover his wrists.

“I heard about your little accident -”

_“It wasn’t an accident and you know it!!!”_

Azula had the nerve to look offended. “I hope you’re not insinuating that I had anything to do with that. Of course I didn’t think he’d --”

When Azula didn’t continue, Zuko snapped at her, “He’d what?? You didn’t think dad was actually going to punish me? YOU KNOW he was going to do something - _something bad_ \-- and you still dragged me back here!!”

“I brought you down here, because you violated the rules decreed by the Fire Lord - and that’s a criminal offense in case none of your _’studies’_ actually stuck to your stubborn head, dumdum.”

Zuko was glaring flaming daggers at Azula, but that just gave her more ammunition to pester him. And of course she took note of the fact that he was hiding his arms from her. 

She sighed dramatically and came to stand next to the bed.

“Oh c’mon, Zuzu, show me. You really don’t want any more injuries, do you? So don’t make me force you.”

“Go away, Azula," Zuko pointedly turned his head away from her, "this has nothing to do with you!”

“Anything that happens in this family has _everything_ to do with me.” Azula slapped him on the side of his head. “And don’t you forget that, you insolent brat.”

“Don’t call me a brat, I’m older than you!!”

Azula scoffed. “Hardly in any way that matters.”

Zuko gritted his teeth in rage.

He would’ve given anything to have a bucket of skunk-eels to throw on Azula’s smug face. But as he fantasized about her being covered in stinky blood-sucking slime, Azula took advantage of his momentary distraction and leaned down to grab a hold of his wrists.

Zuko hissed in pain and tried to snatch his hands away, but her grip was like a -- he closed his eyes and willed himself to calm down. So far, Azula had been all words, she hadn’t actually done anything. Yet.

Azula inspected the still healing blistered red skin around his wrists, and the ugly burn marks coiling up his arms in blotches where the burning cloth had stuck on his skin. 

Finally, seemingly unsatisfied, she let go off his hands. 

Azula’s expression was indecipherable. Usually she was just gloating, reveling in his misery and taking every opportunity to taunt him more. But right now, she was withdrawn into an uncharacteristic silence - which made Zuko wonder, for the briefest of times - half a second maybe - whether she genuinely didn't feel that gleeful about his situation anymore... 

“Are you happy now??” he finally snapped as her tense silence continued.

“Why would I be happy, dumdum,” Azula shrugged with one shoulder, and casually inspected her painted nails, “I’m not a complete monster, you know.”

“And you think dad is?” Zuko regretted it the moment he said it, and he probably deserved the sharp-nailed slap he got on the face.

“ _How dare you speak of the Fire Lord like that!!_ ” Now there were sparks on her fingertips and Zuko felt his hair rise up from the sudden electricity crackling in the air. 

“I - I didn’t mean it like that...” Zuko trailed off, unable to face Azula even as he himself had brought it up.

Azula looked down her nose at him, then around the room in her well-practised bored disgust. 

“Well, whatever, I have more important things to do than argue here with you,” she said. Zuko wanted to point out that she was the one who came here to argue in the first place, but he was too tired for that. “As Crown Princess I have a lot of obligations to my people, while you -- well, you’re not much use for anything, are you.”

Zuko closed his eyes in pain.

“Don’t get me wrong, I would prefer if you did something useful, it’s a complete waste of resources to keep you just sitting here doing nothing all day. You must be good at least at _something_ , Zuko, and you better figure out what that is and soon,” Azula said, in a tone she apparently thought to be kind and benevolent, “otherwise I’m going to run out of excuses to keep you alive.”

Zuko saw red, how fucking dare she - how could she be so flippant about dangling his life in front of him like just another toy for her to play with.

“ _Get out!!_ ” he shouted, and very nearly sent a whip of flame to chase her out, before restraining himself at the last moment - but maybe he shouldn't have. Like Azula said, he was doomed no matter what he did.

At least she had the decency to leave without aggravating him further, but of course she always had to have the last word --

“A bit of friendly advice, Zuzu -- you better keep on my good side,” - Zuko scoffed, as if she had one - “there is no one else out there looking after you. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you don’t even exist anymore.”

Zuko stared at the burned wrists on his lap, before pulling the robe sleeves over them again. She was right, of course.

_Azula was always right._

After she left, he was once again enshrouded in the suffocating silence, with nothing to do but mull over his conflicted feelings about Azula. 

Despite her mocking tone, Azula had seemed strangely unhappy about Zuko's injuries - though, he couldn’t imagine why it would bother her. 

The truth was that every punishment their father unleashed upon Zuko was another victory for Azula in her path to success. Not that she needed any help in that, she had always been superior to him in _everything_. There had never been any question about who would be the favored heir next in line -- Zuko had always known that, maybe even before the first time his sister had impressed their family and the entire Royal Court with her prodigal firebending talents. 

But no matter what her true motivations towards him were, Azula was his only connection to the outside world. If she was telling the truth, then - then everyone else truly thought he was dead. No one would care to look for him, or to even find out what had happened to him. Was there anyone who would do that anyway --

The only one who came to his mind was Uncle Iroh... Iroh's gestures of affection towards his brother's children had always seemed unusually genuine. Zuko remembered that his mother had gotten along well with Uncle Iroh too, the tone of voice she had used when talking to Iroh had been very different from the way she had addressed Ozai...

Uncle Iroh had always been unexpectedly kind to Zuko, but if uncle also thought Zuko was dead - then he would have just moved on and forgotten about Zuko like everyone else --

Would his uncle even recognize him anymore, if Zuko ever managed to see him again... Not for the first time, Zuko wondered what he looked like now, after well over a year of imprisonment in a dark room with very little food.

There were no mirrors in the room, and any dim reflective surface was curved and distorted. These days he only saw himself through Azula’s eyes.

And he definitely didn’t like that image.

* * *

He wasn't sure if his calendar was accurate anymore.

Zuko had been counting the opening of locks in the morning, but sometimes he just forgot to do that. Sometimes he didn't feel like waking up on time to see Kyoko or Zhuang bring him food. Sometimes he didn't feel like getting up at all.

He was no longer able to feel the regular intervals between sunrise and sunset - days seized to have meaning and the lack of light started to feel even more suffocating. As far as Zuko was concerned, he might as well have been living through an endless night.

After his burn wounds had healed enough, there were many times when Zuko wanted to try escaping again, and he planned it many times too. But every time Azula visited, she made it a point to remind him that he wouldn't survive his next escape attempt - and this time, he believed everything she said. 

_Azula was always right._

But then, after enough time had passed...

Maybe he just got too tired. Maybe he forgot the pain, even though he could feel and see the scars on his wrists and arms every day.

Maybe he just needed to find an end to this, and so --

* * *

_~~Day 612~~ _

Zuko’s second, and final, big mistake was trying to escape - again.

This time he’d gotten even farther away. But nearly two years of imprisonment and long weeks of recovering from severe burn wounds had left their marks on him, literally. He’d just gotten too slow. 

And as always, bad luck followed Zuko - he didn’t remember there being so many doors last time, and when the third steel door opened only to reveal Azula behind it, he realized he'd screwed up his timing as well... 

But even without Azula's arrival, the odds would have been overwhelmingly against him. After seeing his sister, Zuko froze for a second too long - and got immediately taken down by the guards. 

Azula made no move to approach him, and only regarded him from the other side of the door with a blank look.

“You best hope father is in a more forgiving mood today than last time,” Azula just said with a tight smile, and left.

Zuko yelled at Azula's retreating back, while the guards laboriously dragged Zuko back to his prison -- despite being malnourished and half their size, he still had enough energy and spite to kick and scream at them like a rabid possumcat. But there was nothing he could do to stop the door inevitably closing on him again, and being left alone with his loudly boiling emotions in the chilling silence.

This was bad. 

As the hours went by Zuko managed to calm down somewhat, and almost deluded himself into thinking that by some miracle he’d gotten away with it.

But that would be too easy. _Nothing_ was never ever easy for him, and certainly not when it came to Azula.

She would tell their father. She always did, and then --

Zuko waited the rest of the day nervously, pacing along the length of the room and flinching at every sound. If the door opened, this might be it, this might be his final failure, and then his punishment would be complete.

But the door never opened, and the corridor outside remained quiet.

After hours and hours of waiting, Zuko cautiously changed to his night robe and sat on the bed, pulling the covers almost up to his chin - as if that would protect him from anything. He stared at the shadows on the dim metallic sheen of the door, long enough that everything else seemed to shrink away and the door just got larger and larger in his eyes, threatening to swallow everything...

Zuko blinked his eyes to get the dizzying image out of his head, but it wasn't that inaccurate - that doorway had become the center of his world now, mocking him with both forever elusive freedom and the omnipresent promise of death. 

The silence continued and the long wait started to get tiring, and Zuko hesitated - was it safe to sleep, or should he try to stay awake as long as possible. What would be the point in waiting, there was nothing he could do to change his fate in any case, so he extinguished the lantern flames and finally lay down. Maybe it’d be better to be asleep and not know when -- 

The decision was eventually made for him, as exhaustion took over and he drifted off to a troubled sleep.

Zuko must’ve been more exhausted than usual, because he didn’t hear the door being opened or someone walking into his room. 

He barely even woke up when the lanterns suddenly lit up again. It was only when a voice that had filled him with paralyzing fear all his life cut sharply across the dead silence.

“Get up.”

The voice shot through Zuko like a jolt of electricity and he sat up quickly. Panic had filled him before he’d even realized what was happening. 

Zuko first saw the Fire Lord as an absence of light in the middle of the room, a looming figure carved out of the shadows. It took a few seconds for him to distinguish Ozai's face looking down on Zuko, with an expression that was always both terrifyingly familiar and completely foreign at the same time. 

Zuko couldn’t find his voice, he didn’t know what to do, so he did the first thing he always did in his father’s presence - he got down on the floor and kneeled in front of him, bowing deeply enough that he could feel the cold marble tile touching his sweaty forehead.

He pinched his eyes shut tightly, waiting, waiting... This wasn’t how he wanted to die.

Maybe he still had a chance -

“Please, father, I’m so sorry, I'm --”

“Silence.” 

Zuko snapped his mouth shut. 

“I didn’t come here to hear your pathetic groveling.” Ozai regarded Zuko for a long quiet moment and Zuko could barely hear anything aside from his own rabidly beating heart. Every tormented nerve of his body was on fire. 

“I believe I made myself perfectly clear the last time when I told you the rules of your confinement. Do I need to repeat them?”

“No - ” Zuko breathed quickly against the cold floor.

“Because it seems like you’ve forgotten what the consequences of breaking those rules are going to be --”

No, no --

“However, your sister came to see me, and made some arguments in favor of sparing your life. I am yet undecided whether to be swayed by them -” His father took a step closer to him. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Zuko stared at the floor, dark and blurry in front of his eyes. Did he have anything to say - anything - in order to live -- _anything_. His head felt completely empty. He couldn’t think of a single word to say to save his own life.

But he didn’t want to die kneeling on the floor. With great effort Zuko managed to sit up, and rise on his feet - despite his legs feeling like they were going to crumble down like piles of sand under him. 

“I regret what I’ve done, and I - I have no excuse for myself,” Zuko said, desperation dragging the words out as his final lifeline. “I swear it will _never_ happen again, I’m - I will face whatever punishment I deserve, for as long as I deserve. Please, father, I promise I will never try to leave again --”

Ozai looked down at him with nothing but pure contempt. 

“No, you never will.”

Zuko looked up at his father, holding his breath for one eternally frozen second -- but his brain still failed to register the movement quickly enough and he had no time to react when his world had already turned into excruciating pain.

A scorching wave of fire slashed through the floor, burned the soles of Zuko's feet and brought his legs crashing down. He collapsed on his knees and suddenly everything was on fire. His feet were burning. His legs were covered in flames, and then the smell of burning flesh hit him and it was all too unbearably much -- 

Zuko had no memory at all what happened after that. 

At some point he was sure that someone was - no _not again_ \- but someone was there -- and sometimes -- sometimes he tried to open his eyes - but they didn’t stay open for long, and he ebbed in and out of consciousness... 

Everything hurt and he was _so tired._ But still -- 

\- when Zuko finally opened his eyes and they actually stayed open, he was lying on his bed, the room was quiet and decidedly not on fire. The lanterns were flickering softly, but he was alone again.

He stared at the ceiling wondering vaguely whether it was morning or evening. Should he get up to eat breakfast or dinner. Was there even any difference between them. There hadn’t been for a long time, so what did it matter. 

Slowly Zuko managed to sit up enough to lean himself on his elbows, and stared down at his legs. His feet and legs up to his knees were completely wrapped in white bandages, much like the ones Kyoko had used before, and they felt sticky and cold against his skin. 

His head still half-buzzing and half-numb, he poked one of his legs with his finger, and jolted back when the searing pain hit him. 

Panicked, Zuko tried to move - but his feet seemed to have become completely numb and unresponsive, while his legs just sent more waves of pain to the rest of his body. He collapsed back on the bed, and stared at the ceiling.

He sighed, and then couldn't help but laugh bitterly. At least now he knew exactly where he stood with his father - burning in a sea of fire, literally. Azula might accuse him of being dramatic, but was it really that dramatic if it was actually true...

Apparently he would’ve been dead without her - though whether Azula arguing in favor of sparing his life was a good thing or not, he couldn’t really say -- maybe she had actually counted on that being the worse option.

That's how it always seemed to go. They didn't kill him, but they didn't let him live either. 

How many people had now debated whether Zuko's life was worth sparing or not? His mother and father had done that throughout Zuko's whole life, and then his grandfather - and now his sister. Had his life ever been anything other than an argument point between his family members?

Zuko closed his eyes, and desperately wished he could just go back to being unconscious -- Kyoko and her little glass bottles really couldn't come soon enough...

* * *

~~_Day ----_ ~~

Zuko had completely forgotten to update his calendar. The days didn’t really matter anymore.

First it took weeks to get up from his bed, and then even more weeks before he could walk around his room without collapsing every few steps. And once his feet had stopped feeling numb and started healing properly, the pain returned tenfold.

He lost count of how many months it took before he was able to walk and move around again without being accompanied by constant pain.

After his 'incident', Azula had only visited him once, while he was still freshly recovering from his burnt feet. 

Zuko had managed to mostly ignore her, which had been easier than usual since he was struggling to stay coherent anyway. But Azula had seemed oddly distracted too, and much less motivated to taunt him than before.

“You’re still alive,” Azula said as a greeting. 

“Barely,” Zuko gritted out. “As if you cared.”

"Funny you should say that, since I'm the only reason you're still here. I did tell dad that it would be too early to get rid of you completely. And - I have to say I’m surprised that he actually listened to my advice,” Azula said, looking perplexed, and for once her reaction seemed genuine. “I was convinced he was just going to kill you this time. I wonder why he didn’t --”

“WHY DON’T YOU ASK HIM??”

“Calm down,” Azula waved him off, “I’m not saying that he should’ve killed you.”

Zuko really wished she would just go away. He was in enough pain without having to try to work out the complicated mess of Azula’s hidden motives. He didn't want to get his hopes up about her suddenly gaining a conscience, not anymore.

Azula hovered by the door, seemingly undecided about something. Zuko had a feeling she was trying to think of something mocking to say to him, and decided to save her the trouble.

“Would you've been happy if he had?” he finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper. She could just say it and go, then at least he’d know.

“No.” 

What - _What the hell did that mean?_

Zuko couldn’t help it, he stared at her, not even trying to hide his surprise. But Azula seemed to gain back some ground from his reaction, and deflected with one of her patently casual smirks.

“Well, unfortunately something very - _unexpected_ has come up, and I’m quite busy at the moment, so I don’t have much time to visit sick family members,” she said, and gave him a feigned pitying look. “Unlike yours, my schedule is just packed with important people to meet and places to go - after all, I am the chief-in-command, second only to the Fire Lord.” 

Zuko turned his head away from her with a tired sigh, of course she was...

“I would say see you later, but I’m afraid I might not be around here much. Try not to get killed again, dumdum.”

And after that, Azula’s visits had stopped. 

As aggravating as she had always been - that stung more than Zuko had thought. Had she now forgotten him too?

His father at least seemed to have forgotten Zuko’s existence completely - or he just didn’t care at all anymore. Zuko couldn’t really complain much about that, since it significantly reduced his chances of being burned alive in his sleep.

But then, he just - lost track of time... 

Zuko wasn’t sure how many days or weeks had gone by between being burned and Azula’s last visit. And all those long months, when his feet and legs were still healing and Zuko was mostly bed-bound, blended together into a blurry half-existence. 

Only the dutiful servants continued to appear every morning - both Kyoko and Zhuang seemed to be the only constants left in his life, though they barely even spoke to him. But aside from their brief appearances, Zuko was completely isolated.

He desperately tried to think of things to do.

After his feet had healed enough to start walking again Zuko tried to continue his kata-practises with his makeshift swords as much as he could, though with much less mobility and motivation than before. And now he could probably practise firebending forms too with actual fire, since it was unlikely anyone would care to ever check again - but it didn't change the fact that firebending in an underground chamber with little space and poor ventilation was always going to be very limiting.

So Zuko mainly ended up using firebending as a meditation aid, which was a habit he had started after his mother had disappeared. Azula used to say he was just doing childish firetricks, because he couldn't do anything better - and maybe she was right. It was nothing more than controlling little flames that circled around his fingertips in loops of increasingly complicated patterns, but in his dark prison those tiny sources of light and warmth were sometimes the only thing that helped him calm down enough to sleep.

Occasionally he also went through his old study notes and whatever scribbles he had done during his first year of confinement. But reading them and seeing the amount of effort and time he had poured into his useless studies just made Zuko incredibly frustrated with himself. 

It was no wonder Azula had laughed at him for being stupid enough to think that his studies had ever meant anything _at all_ \-- other than just being a convenient excuse to keep him busy and discourage him from escaping in the beginning, while he still had been fit and healthy enough to possibly succeed.

And now he was lucky he could even walk anymore...

A few times Zuko even tried to talk to himself, to make sure his voice still worked --

“I can still speak,” he said quietly to the room. "I - I can --"

\- but winced at the unsettling sound of his own voice, which always just seemed to emphasize the heavy silence surrounding him. 

Of course, there were many _many_ days when everything felt completely pointless, and Zuko just lay in bed, unmoving. 

In the end, no matter what he did, the images of a life beyond his prison started to fade away, and eventually Zuko had no choice but to let the acceptance sink in -- 

He was never getting out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then everything changed when Team Avatar invaded the next chapter... 
> 
> ([i'm also wirelychee on tumblr](https://wirelychee.tumblr.com) :D)


	2. Day of the black sun

***

_**2\. Day of the black sun** _

***

No one opened the door that morning.

Zuko woke up like he usually did anyway, got dressed and sat by the table, waiting -- not like there was much else to do. At this point a stable routine was probably the only thing keeping his mind from falling apart completely.

He stared at his bare feet and wiggled his toes a little, which still hurt a little even though they must’ve been healing for over half a year now. The burn wounds had gotten all scarred over, which had left ugly red marks coiling around his feet and legs. The scars were uneven and bumpy like wrinkled cloth in some places, while some of them looked like his skin had been crudely pieced together from flakes of plaster. 

But he couldn't really complain - maybe they looked bad, but at least thanks to Kyoko he could walk normally by now, even if it was still tiring and painful sometimes...

Zuko glanced at the door again, getting slightly more anxious now.

It’s not like he ever knew _when_ exactly Kyoko or Zhuang would come every morning, but he was certain that usually they came not long after sunbreak - and certainly well before noon at the latest. 

And it couldn’t be that late yet, maybe they just had other chores to do that morning. 

Frustrated he told himself he was getting paranoid, but still - once he started to worry about it, he couldn’t stop. Even a small disruption to his monotonous routine left him feeling unsettled.

Zuko paced the room for a while, but lacking any other distractions he finally gave in and went to the door. He leaned very close to it, trying to listen for any possible sounds of life, any confirmation that he hadn’t been left alone in the underground vaults. It was always quiet, but now it was completely silent. He swore he could usually at least _feel_ the presence of guards somewhere outside in the corridors, but there was nothing...

He backed away from the door, trying to calm down the panic he already felt rising. He was just being paranoid, this didn’t mean anything - there could be other possible reasons why the servants who had brought him food every morning invariably for years would now suddenly stop coming, or why the guards would suddenly disappear -- 

It didn’t have to mean that maybe -

Maybe it had finally happened, something Zuko had been trying to aggressively avoid thinking about almost every day --

Maybe one day, they just forgot about him. Maybe one day his father decided it wasn’t worth it to keep him alive anymore, and he would order the servants to stop coming -

\-- and Zuko would slowly starve to death and go mad waiting for anyone to remember - or care - that he was still alive.

He closed his eyes, and took a few long deep breaths, though that never seemed to have much of a calming effect on him. Zuko's old instructors had always reminded him of that during firebending training - with unnecessary force in his opinion - every time he forgot to even out his breathing before performing a kata.

He slowly sat down on the floor in front of the door, crossed his legs and kept his eyes on the unbreakable steel in front of him.

He just had to wait and someone would come. Someone _had_ to.

So Zuko waited and waited, but everything remained quiet. And not just quiet, but something about the whole atmosphere felt strange - like something was missing...

Zuko felt like _he_ was missing something.

Then panic came back in a rush when a thought occurred to him, and Zuko lifted his hand to light a small flame on it - but it died out immediately. 

“No...”

Did he lose his firebending too, along with everything else?? That wasn’t - _that wasn’t fair_ \- it was too much --

He tried it again, and now there was no flame at all.

Frustrated, Zuko leaned forward against the cold door separating him from the rest of the world, and apparently now even the power of Agni had left him too. If he couldn’t firebend, escaping wouldn’t even be in the realm of possibility anymore - but more crucially without fire Zuko would have no means to relight the lanterns after the flames went out -- and then he would literally be left in the darkness...

He pinched his eyes shut, and this time didn’t even try to stop the panic anymore. 

_“No --”_

Zuko looked up at the door, feeling utterly helpless. 

“Noooo - no, no, NO, _NO!!_ ” he cried out, and hit the door as hard as he could with his fists, to no use of course. He sat there for a few minutes, breathing heavily, shaken and resigned -

\-- before he heard something.

Zuko looked up in surprise. No, he didn’t imagine it. There were voices, actual _voices_ , and they were coming closer.

He didn’t think he’d ever actually heard anyone _speak_ on the way to visit him. And these voices were loud, _very_ loud. There were at least several people talking and they weren’t even trying to be quiet about it.

Zuko quickly backed away from the door, unsure what to do. 

At least he hadn’t been forgotten, but something had changed and now he didn’t know what to feel - should he be preparing for the worst? The truth was that it was more likely that someone would be coming to execute him rather than to release him -- and with those possible scenarios flashing in his mind, Zuko grabbed his swords and retreated.

The voices were getting closer, and the situation was making him nervous enough to hide behind one of the pillars at the corner of the room. He had to see who was coming first, before knowing how to react - and whether he had to try to defend himself in some way.

Then someone opened the door --

\- and Zuko's jaw dropped open and eyes widened in disbelief when he realized that, no, the door wasn't just opened but it was literally _ripped in half._

Astonished he couldn't do anything but watch as the impenetrable steel door was torn apart from the middle with a truly inexplicable amount of strength, and then the mangled pieces of metal were pushed aside like crumbling paper.

Zuko could swear it was _the_ loudest noise he had ever heard in his life.

Panicked he backed against the wall, and well - at least he knew he had absolutely no chance in hell in defending himself against -- Zuko leaned forward slightly just in time to see -

\-- a little girl.

Maybe he’d finally gone insane. That must be it. Maybe he was just hallucinating that he’d lost his firebending, that there were people talking and little girls tearing down steel doors -- and -

“Okay, seems like no one’s home, can we go now??” 

and that definitely wasn’t a little girl’s voice.

In what must be another hallucination, a teenage boy walked in from behind the little girl, looking impatient and annoyed. Zuko retreated back against the wall, staring at the ceiling, looking for answers in the darkness. Suddenly everything was so strange that even his fear started to dissipate and was taken over by overwhelming confusion.

“No, I’m telling you, someone’s here!!” the little girl said with the kind of absolute conviction you could expect from someone who tore metal into pieces with their bare hands. “I heard something weird.”

Zuko held his breath. 

“Sokka’s right,” another young voice, even younger than the other boy, said, “We should leave before the eclipse ends. We still have time to get everyone back safely.”

“And even if someone was here, I doubt it would be the Fire Lord,” and now it seemed like there was a young woman talking too.

“Yeah well, before you guys write me off, you might wanna check behind that pillar,” the little girl said, and no doubt was pointing in Zuko’s direction. “Or do you wanna come out yourself?”

Zuko was frozen in place, how the hell did she know that too?? Maybe she wasn’t a human at all, but a spirit of some kind.

“Umm, helloo?” the teenage boy said, “Whoever you are, could you come out, we’re kind of in a hurry here?”

“We’re not going to hurt you, we just wanna ask you a few questions,” the younger boy said.

Zuko had no idea what to do, so he just stood there, hoping his hallucinations would have mercy on his sanity and just leave him alone.

“I can tell that you’re scared,” the little girl said, “but seriously, if you don’t fight us, we’re not gonna fight you.” 

Well, Zuko could rule out trying to fight the little girl, since he didn’t really feel like volunteering himself to be ripped apart by inhumanly strong spirits...

He didn’t really have many options. And now that the kids knew he was there, they didn't make any indication of leaving either.

Zuko felt very defenseless without his firebending, he had no actual weapons, and he wasn't really in the best fighting shape to say the least. 

Maybe it would be better to go with the kids then... They were clearly strong enough - or at least the spirit girl was - to dispose of any guards on the way, but they also sounded very young, so maybe they wouldn’t be _too_ hostile...

Not knowing what else to do, Zuko cautiously stepped out from behind the pillar, and quickly assessed what he was facing. 

In addition to the little spirit girl, there was another young boy standing next to her, seemingly around her age - and the other two were a teenage girl and a boy closer to Zuko’s own age. 

They -- _really_ didn’t look like people who could have broken into the Royal Palace - _and torn down a steel door??_ Zuko's eyes were drawn to the door that had haunted him for years - and these children had broken through it so effortlessly that his mind couldn’t even begin to wrap around it...

The group of kids stared back at him in surprise too - and for the first time in a long while, Zuko felt self-conscious about his appearance. He was painfully aware that he had no idea what he looked like anymore.

The kids seemed too stunned to say anything, so -

“What do you want?” Zuko demanded from them, before they could do anything. He was so unused to speaking that it almost physically hurt to raise his voice, and he doubted they were at all threatened by him.

“Uh, hi there!” the youngest boy said with a cheerfulness that seemed almost absurd considering the situation. He was covered in tattoos and definitely not from the Fire Nation. “We were just kinda wondering why no one’s home... But then my friend here,” the little spirit girl waved, “found you and well, since we came all the way down here, we just thought -”

“What my overly chatty friend here is _trying_ to say,” the teenage boy interrupted, again with that annoyed tone, “is that _yes,_ we’re invading the Fire Nation Capital - and _yes,_ we kinda came here to fight, but we didn’t since we couldn’t find anyone. AND a huge tip from me, if all you’ve got are those - _things,_ ” the boy pointed at Zuko’s wooden swords, and he flushed with embarrassment, “then don’t even bother fighting back. I mean we’ve got like the best benders in the world here, like seriously THE BEST benders, so, resistance is futile and all that...”

“Well, we are pretty good - ” The young tattooed boy rubbed the back of his head with an abashed grin. 

The little spirit girl punched him in the arm hard enough to sway him. “Sokka’s talking about _me,_ Twinkletoes.”

Zuko had no idea what was happening. 

But something stuck in his mind - they hadn’t seen anyone in the Palace... If that was true, then Zuko might actually get out of there without being captured once again, and this would probably be his last and _only_ chance to do that. (And with a jolt he realized that meant the Fire Lord was gone too, and Azula --)

“Uhh, I don’t wanna rush you, but -- “ the tattooed boy said.

“The eclipse is ending, we need to get out,” the teenage girl said, and stepped carefully closer to him. Her voice sounded weirdly sincere when she continued, “Please come with us, I’m - well, I’m not wrong to assume you’re a prisoner, right? We promise we won’t hurt you, all we want is for everyone to get out of here safely.”

_The eclipse?_

Zuko was getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of new information, and talking -- he hadn’t even talked to Azula for months and he’d forgotten how tiring it was. And now, these kids had outright confessed that they were enemies of the Fire Nation. Maybe he could pretend to be on their side, long enough to escape on his own...

He lowered his swords, but didn’t let go off them.

“Okay,” Zuko said, still hating how weak his voice sounded. “I - I’ll come with you.”

“Woo!!” the little spirit girl cheered with a wide grin. “Maybe this whole thing wasn’t a waste of time after all!”

“Okay, c’mon,” the teenage girl said, and held out her hand for him. “Do you need help? We only need to get outside the Palace, we’ve got transport waiting there.”

Zuko ignored her hand and walked tentatively towards whatever was left of the door. He couldn’t get over that. That steel door had held him imprisoned for years, and even the sound of it opening had given him nightmares.

But now, behind the wrecked pieces of metal, Zuko could clearly see the dark empty corridor leading to his prison - and out of it. There were no guards, no Azula - _nothing_ to stop him from running away...

He could go outside and finally see the sun.

But as Zuko approached the opening in the door, his legs started to ache and get heavier. At every step he got closer, he swore he could feel the flames flicking at his feet again.

Zuko knew he wasn’t supposed to do this - he wasn't supposed to leave before the Fire Lord had pardoned him. He had promised his father he would _never_ leave, and then if Azula found him -- If by some miracle he didn’t get killed on the spot, he would be dethroned permanently and then thrown back here for the rest of his life - and -

\-- as if he wasn’t already living through that. 

But his legs refused to move through the door, his throat felt tight and pressure started building in his head and his chest - it was hard to breathe - and then --

then -

Suddenly everything swirled around him - and Zuko could only see a blur of shapes before he collapsed and his head hit the floor painfully --

He heard surprised gasps -- 

\- and then everything was dark again.

* * *

Sokka couldn’t believe this. 

First, the whole point of their invasion had gone to shreds since the Fire Lord had disappeared - and therefore the possibility of an epic Avatar-fight had plummeted down to zero. And as if that wasn't enough, the rest of the Palace City was gone too - and NOW there was an unconscious maybe-probably-enemy lying by his feet --

“Oh great, _now what??_ " Sokka cried out, and flailed both of his hands towards the boy on the floor. "When I said we could loot some stuff from the Royal Palace, I didn’t mean _THIS!!_ ” 

Katara ignored his extremely valid point as usual. “We need to hurry,” she said, as if Sokka didn’t _already know that_. It was HIS plan. “Can you carry him, Sokka? We have to take him with us.” 

“Carry him?? Me??” Sokka gaped at her. “Excuse me, but why do _I_ need to carry the enemy - who, by the way, might be a firebender and will roast us alive once the eclipse ends?? Can't we just leave him here, and on the way back maybe steal a few gold statues - you know, _like normal looters do!!_ ”

“Sokka, I don't think we should leave him here", Aang said. "And if we don’t take him with us, we’re walking out of here with nothing -"

"- ahem, _GOLD statues, Aang!!"_

"- with nothing _important_ , “Aang continued, in that annoyingly calm way of his. “If he’s too heavy to carry, we'll help you. If he’s a firebender and will attack us, then we’ll just deal with it later."

“Fine, fine,” Sokka grumbled, resigned to his fate. "I'm just saying, we could've used _more_ money and _less_ firebenders, but no one listen to me, I guess..."

“Okay, so that's settled,” Katara said, taking charge, “The eclipse is probably over already, but we can still try to get everyone back safely. Since the Fire Lord isn’t here, there is no point in waiting anymore. Aang, you go ahead and fly to tell the others that we’re retreating. They’ll need to get back to the ships as soon as possible. We’ll take Appa and come right behind you.”

Aang nodded soberly, “Got it. Be safe, guys!” He turned to run back.

“You too, Aang!” Katara said.

“You’re sure you remember the way back?” asked Toph.

“Yeah yeah --” 

And then Aang had already disappeared into the dark tunnels behind the corridor.

Katara turned back to the others. "Sokka, we need to -" 

"- hurry, yeah, yeah, I know..."

Sokka crouched down next to the boy, and shook his shoulder a little. "Uhh, hellooo, now would be a great time to wake up... and walk out - you know, by yourself, without me --" 

No reaction, as if he'd be that lucky. Sokka sighed - he couldn't believe they'd gone through all this effort, risked their lives in a dangerous invasion and got all the way to the very center of the Fire Nation - only to pick up some weird teenager with stupid silk robes and ridiculous wooden sticks -- and someone _really_ needed to introduce this guy to the concept of haircuts. 

"C'mon, Sokka, what's taking you so long??" Toph poked him in the shoulder, gentle as usual.

"How am I supposed to do this..." he whined to Toph "- and why is there so much hair??" 

"Remember when that vendor gave you a discount on that huge sack of watermelons, and you insisted on carrying them all the way to Appa?"

"Yeah --"

"Just do the opposite of whatever you did then, and you'll be fine."

Sokka glared uselessly at her smirky face. "Wow, thanks Toph."

"No problem!" Toph grinned. "And really, don't worry, Sokka, you can do it - he's not that heavy, and I'm sure you're _a lot_ stronger than you look."

Toph just kept on coming with the punches today, huh - and Sokka had thought she was supposed to be shredding the enemies apart, not _him_.

Sokka gritted his teeth, maneuvered his arms under the boy’s back and knees, and hoisted him up - mentally preparing to damage his own back for AT LEAST the next ten years - but then -- well, maybe Toph was right, the prisoner-whoever kid wasn't actually _that_ heavy.

But Sokka still preferred to think that, yeah, maybe he really _was_ a lot stronger than he looked.

Not that he still wasn’t going to sprain every muscle in his body carrying the boy up all those damn stairways - the others owned Sokka some _serious_ massage therapy after this.

They took off after Aang, but at a considerably slower pace, especially Sokka. He looked up to see Katara and Toph already hurrying ahead, while Sokka was still huffing behind with his armful of enemy. He groaned loudly just to make sure they knew how much he was suffering right now.

Maybe he should’ve just passed on the task to Toph, Sokka was pretty sure she could bench press him at any time of day, no sweat.

Katara stayed in the front with her water pouch ready for defense, while the heavyweight champion in question slowed down to wait for Sokka, and slapped him in the back. 

“You’re doing great, Sokka! Keep it up!”

“We haven’t even reached the first stairway yet,” Sokka gritted through his teeth, and lifted the boy up higher to stop him from slipping down his arms. Sokka’s shoulder had probably popped out of place, but no big deal, it’s not like they were deep in enemy headquarters or anything...

“And they’re made of stone, so lift-time!” Toph grinned, and bended a platform out of the stone to slide them up the stairs.

“Have I mentioned how much I love you lately,” Sokka said, with a huge sigh of relief.

“Not nearly enough as far as I’m concerned!”

Once they got back to the ground level, the gloomy hallways of the Palace were as unsettlingly empty as before - and the only sounds were the echoes of their hurried footsteps.

Katara was already far ahead, and it seemed like they could actually manage to get out without encountering any resistance. Not that Sokka was complaining, but it was still kind of creepy and suspicious...

“It’s so quiet here,” Toph said. “Seems like the Fire Lord and his henchmen are a bunch of wussy babies who run away at the first sign of trouble.” 

“That’s what I’ve been saying the whole time!”

“Well, at least we got something with us,” Toph nodded her head towards their unconscious looted enemy. “I told you guys it’d be a good idea to check the Palace together!” 

“I don’t know, he might be more trouble than it’s worth...”

“So, you’re sure he’s firenation?” Toph asked. “He could be a prisoner from somewhere else.”

Sokka looked down at the slack face leaning against his chest - ugh please no drool on his shirt - and well, the Fire Nation types were sometimes pretty pale, but even by their standards this boy was _super_ pale, and really skinny. Sokka could imagine that he would look less out of place with the starving kids in Jang Hui than in the Capital City.

Which was weird, he had to admit, why would there be a malnourished firenation teenager in _the Royal Palace?_ It was kind of jarring considering that the hallways around them were _literally_ lined with gold. But then again, what about this whole place wasn't weird...

Sokka looked back at Toph, who was frowning at his silence -

“No," Sokka said firmly, "he’s definitely firenation.”

“Hmmm..."

“Yeah, I’m not feeling too great about that either.”

“Why’d he collapse like that? Does he look sick? I mean, people usually get scared when they see me metalbending - and for a good reason," Toph grinned a little, "but literally fainting seems kinda overkill."

“Uh yeah, actually he does look sick,” Sokka glanced over at his bare feet, and well, Toph wasn't going to like this - “and uh, his feet are burned. Like _very_ burned.”

Toph predictably grimaced at that, and made a sympathetic hissing noise. “Ohh ouch, that’s _gotta_ hurt. So I guess they’re not above torturing prisoners in the Royal Palace -”

“Are you surprised?”

“Nope.”

Katara had already made it outside, and thankfully they all reached Appa without any surprise firebender attacks.

The sun was shining brightly in the sky again, and no doubt the place would be crawling with firebenders soon - or should be... Sokka was unnerved by their lack of defence in the inner city. The Fire Nation had been bombing their troops nonstop down in the bay, but around the Royal Palace there was nothing - they couldn’t have _really_ abandoned the Palace City, right?

Katara glanced impatiently at Sokka.

"Sokka, what's wrong? We need to hurry up! I’ve got a bad feeling we’re gonna get company soon..."

"There should be company here _already_ ," Sokka said, frowning. "If there's no defense here, maybe we could actually try to take over the Palace..."

"No, I don't think we can take that risk, Sokka." Katara said. "They might have defense on the way, or maybe not - but our troops have already been told to retreat and we have to protect the survivors. The safety of our friends and allies should take priority."

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Sokka said, still feeling conflicted about losing possibly their only chance of taking control of the most crucial target in the Fire Nation. 

"Your next plan is going to be even better, Sokka," Katara said to him with an encouraging smile. "I know it will."

Sokka sighed, feeling dejected, and turned back towards Appa - and now he was supposed to get their looted prisoner somehow up there - he glanced down at the kid who looked even more deathly pale outside in the sunlight. 

The whole point of the invasion had failed, and now they had an added problem of dragging around a Fire Nation prisoner, who might actually be a murderous criminal for all they knew.

"Uhh, you better be worth this..." Sokka muttered, and with a heavy grunt heaved the unconscious boy high enough that Katara managed to grab a hold of him, and they dragged him together onto the saddle.

As soon as they were all on board, Katara yelled out, “Appa, yip yip!” and the bison took off to the sky, automatically heading towards Aang.

Katara turned to look at them.

“Everything okay?”

“Just peachy,” Toph said, holding onto the edge of the saddle with her toes curled in annoyance. 

Sokka was also annoyed, having realized the boomerang on his belt had gotten tangled in the boy’s ridiculously long hair. Seriously, were there _any_ decent barbers in the entire Fire Nation??

“Aaah, I can’t believe this!!” Sokka groaned, and decided he didn’t have time for this nonsense, so he took his knife to cut out the offending hair, when Katara chastised him - 

“Sokka, that’s not very nice - “

“He’s clearly firenation, he doesn’t deserve nice! Besides, if anything I'd say I'm doing him a favor!”

“ - we should at least be nice to him until we find out what’s happened. He seemed to be a prisoner there, and he might actually want to help us.” She glanced at the boy’s burned feet with a troubled look. “And firenation or not, looks like they weren’t very nice to him either...” 

“Yeah, no kidding,” Sokka muttered.

Resigned, he maneuvered the boomerang from his belt, and left it to lie on Appa’s saddle next to the boy. Then he grabbed the rope and tied the boy’s hands tightly together. Former prisoner or not, they couldn’t take any chances.

Katara went on to take the reins as they flew back over to the embankment. Sokka kept his eye on the watchtowers and the Palace City behind them, expecting the enemy troops to chase after them at any moment - but the only active military defense was still concentrated on the harbor.

“Can you see dad??” Sokka shouted over the wind, peering down below. 

“Looks like they’re already at the submarines!” Katara replied, and sure enough, Sokka saw a group of people still fighting by the pier. 

Aang was flying in circles over them like a buzzard wasp, and he spun a huge blast of air to throw a group of firebending soldiers splashing into the water. 

“Shouldn’t we go down to help our troops?” Sokka asked. “At least one of the submarines has been destroyed, can they all fit in?”

“Not all of them made it back,” Katara said grimly, “They should all fit.”

Sokka looked up at her in horror, “Dad --??”

“He’s there, so is Bato, and I think I saw Teo and his dad as well.”

“Okay,” Sokka sighed. He felt guilty for being relieved that dad had made it when others hadn’t, but - Hakoda would probably just remind him that they had all known this might be their last battle. 

That didn't make the loss any less upsetting of course, it was always different just knowing something, and actually living through it -- and then not living through it at all... This had been Sokka’s plan, and he needed to acknowledge that the stakes had gotten so high now that his plans would likely lead to someone’s death - not just on the enemy’s side, but on their side too.

They followed the trail of the submarines on Appa, making sure that their remaining troops all got safely back to the ships. Sokka looked on anxiously as Aang whirled back fireblasts shot towards them. 

Katara waved for Sokka to take over Appa’s reins as she went to stand in the middle of the saddle like an unshakeable statue of wrath, and raised a huge wave from the sea to block the Fire Nation boats that had taken after the submarines.

Sokka kept peering down at their troops from his place on Appa’s head, worry gnawing at him. 

He only allowed himself to relax once he finally saw dad had returned to his ship and waved up at them from the deck. Sokka grinned and waved back at him, almost loopy with relief.

The ships took off to the open seas, and Sokka directed Appa higher up towards the sky. Aang flew next to them and landed lightly on his feet on the edge of the saddle.

“We made it!” Aang grinned, looking as visibly relieved as Sokka felt.

Katara went to hug Aang, and Sokka climbed over to the saddle to meet them.

“What should we do now, Sokka?” Katara asked.

Right. They were still following Sokka's plan, and because the invasion had failed, it was his job to get them safely back on track.

“We’ll stick to our backup plan, and meet dad and the others tomorrow.” Sokka said, and took out the map of the Fire Nation. “Dad will be sailing overnight, but we can stop by for the night and get some rest - here at the Pelitoucan Island.” 

“The Pelitoucan Island?” Toph said, “You sure? That sounds noisy.”

“Yeah, it probably is. But it’s small and uninhabited - well, by humans at least, and probably the safest place between here and our destination at the Bay of Jinzhu.” Sokka followed the trail on the map with his finger and continued, “Dad is going to anchor his ship by this cove on the northern side of Jinzhu Island, and come to meet us in Meng-shu Valley. That’s where the Order of the White Lotus is staying at the moment.”

Sokka glanced over at the Fire Nation boy, nervous that he might have woken up and was eavesdropping on them, but nope, he was still out cold lying in the same position Sokka had left him - maybe they should check if he was still even breathing...

“But I think before we leave to Jinzhu tomorrow, we should decide what to do with our prisoner - ”

“I don’t think we should call him our prisoner yet -” Katara interrupted.

“Okay, _Our New Flammable Friend_ then,” Sokka rolled his eyes pointedly, “but you know, we shouldn’t let him know where our allies are located or any of our plans before we know whose side he’s on. He could be a spy!”

“Sokka, we’re the ones who took him from there, it’s not like he _planned_ for us to kidnap him,” Aang said, way too reasonably in Sokka’s opinion, but whatever.

“Whatever,” Sokka waved him off. “Point is, he’s not just some random firenation guy, but he was in the Fire Nation's _Royal Palace_ \- therefore he’s automatically suspicious.”

“Gotta agree with Sokka there,” Toph said, but hesitated before continuing, “Although he did seem pretty scared. Like not just scared of us, but of _everything_ , you know? And it is pretty weird that they had three HUGE steel doors for what - just in order to keep some kid locked in a room?”

“Okay, but that just makes me think that maybe he’s actually really dangerous?” Sokka said.

“I don’t know, he doesn’t look that dangerous to me,” Aang shrugged. 

“ _Aang,_ you look like a smiley balloon on a stick and you could probably crush a whole mountain,” Sokka said exasperated, “you of all people shouldn’t trust someone just because they don’t _look_ dangerous!!”

“I haven’t tried crushing mountains yet!” Aang looked excited, because of course he did. “That would make a huge mess, though.”

“I can try!!” Toph volunteered immediately. 

Sokka was absolutely 100% sure she wasn’t joking.

Katara seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “Oh no no, no one let Toph near a mountain!”

Toph was still grinning like they’d just given her a new life goal - and knowing Toph they _absolutely had._ Everyone decided to drop the matter before she got any more amazing ideas from them.

Aang jumped up on Appa’s head to take the reins, heading to the direction Sokka had shown him. 

Sokka leaned on the edge of the saddle and watched as the ocean shimmered in the sunlight below them. The ships were already far behind, and they would be traveling different routes to their meeting point anyway. Dad’s ship going straight ahead, while Sokka and the others would take a detour for the night, just to mislead anyone possibly spotting Appa and trying to follow them - and then the next morning head to Jinzhu Island from the southern side.

Maybe they didn’t get a big victory today and lost some troops, but Sokka still felt hopeful. He had all of his friends alive and together, and they would be able to meet dad again tomorrow. As far as invasions went, it could’ve been a lot worse.

But for now, it was just the four of them again, plus Appa and Momo of course -

\-- and one kidnapped Fire Nation prisoner.

* * *

It was bright. _Very bright._

Zuko felt like his eyes were burning, and he was pretty sure they weren’t even open. His head was aching badly, and then everything else started to ache too, and the complete lack of sound he had gotten used to whenever he had woken up had been replaced by --

noise, _so much noise --_

suddenly there were sounds that Zuko hadn't heard in a long time - wind _everywhere_ , waves crashing against rocks, and birds, _really loud birds_ screaming, and people talking -- 

That was bad. That meant he wasn’t where he was supposed to be -

Zuko opened his eyes, and for the first time in years, he could see the sky.

The sun was shining brightly, and he immediately had to squeeze his eyes closed again when the blinding light hit them. He’d barely seen anything brighter than a lantern throughout his whole imprisonment (aside from occasional flames thrown his way).

Blinking against the stinging light, Zuko opened his eyes again and tried to shield them with his hands, but found that he couldn’t move his hands at all. 

His hands were tied. So, he wasn't free - that must mean --

It was a struggle to try to sit up, but he managed to draw his knees under him and sat still for a moment, waiting for his head to stop spinning and the wind to stop whooshing in his ears. 

He looked up towards the sky again, and could feel the warmth of the sun on his bare skin - it felt better than he could have ever imagined. 

And it felt too real to be just a dream, maybe he was hallucinating again -- 

Then Zuko remembered his earlier hallucination, and realized that the weird kids that had appeared in it hadn’t actually gone anywhere and were now in fact right there staring at him -

Maybe he could just close his eyes, focus on the sunlight and ignore everything else --

“Oh hey, you’re awake!” 

\- except of course not... He glanced warily at the tattooed boy, who was grinning widely - he looked way too chipper to be something Zuko would hallucinate.

“We were getting kinda worried, since you were out for so long - ” the tattooed boy continued, "but I hope you're feeling better now!"

The three other kids seemed to be closely observing him as well, and Zuko averted his eyes uncomfortably. The rope around his wrists made him feel anxious - they wouldn't have tied him up if they didn't consider him to be an enemy --

“We’ve made some food, would you like some?” the teenage girl asked. 

Wait, _food_ \-- Zuko couldn't help staring at the soup ladle in the girl’s hand, she was stirring some kind of stew over an open campfire, and it both looked and smelled like actual _food._

He was starting to realize that this was real - all of this was actually _real_. But he still seemed to be the only one who didn't know what had happened - or what was going to happen...

No one was offering any explanations either, and the kids seemed to be waiting for him to make some kind of initiative, so he cleared his throat, knowing how unused his voice was, and asked,

“Wh -where am I?”

“Oh, we’re just stopping by at the Pelitoucan Island,” the tattooed little boy said, his voice was definitely permanently stuck on excited about everything, “and tomorrow we’re going to meet -”

“Aang!! Don’t tell him about our plans!!” the teenage boy cried out - in contrast to the other boy he sounded permanently annoyed about everything, “Now if he escapes he’s going BACK to the Fire Palace and TELL everyone -”

“Sokka, we’re on a small island in the middle of the ocean, how’s he going to escape without our notice? Do you think he’ll just swim~ back to the Capital?” the teenage girl said, making a sarcastic wavy motion with her hand. “We wouldn’t even need Appa to track him, we could just send Momo after him --” 

Now that Zuko looked closer, the teenage girl and boy looked very similar. Both with distinct blue eyes, and dressed in blue fur-lined clothes - _water tribe?_

_Who the hell were these kids --_

“How should I know!!” the water tribe boy retorted back. “All I know is that these people are crafty and cannot be trusted, under any circumstances!!” 

Zuko tried the ropes bound around his wrists, and winced as they scraped at his skin painfully. They were made of flammable string, which he could easily burn through - if his firebending still worked. And it seemed like the kids weren’t concerned that he might be a firebender, or did they just not care? None of them looked like they were from the Fire Nation.

The boy called Aang piped in again, “Guys guys, I think we should just have some dinner together, so we can all calm down and think about what to do next -”

The water tribe boy sidled up to the other kid, and muttered, “Aang, I don't think it's a good idea to untie him yet --"

Zuko felt an anxious shiver pass through him - so that was it, he was still a prisoner, only his captors had changed. He didn’t know why he had thought even for a second that the kids would actually want to release him.

“So I’m your prisoner." 

“No no, you’re not our prisoner!” Aang was quick to reply. His sincerity sounded so convincing Zuko was almost tempted to believe him again - they were very good at that. “First, you’re going to be our dinner guest, and then we’ll ask you some questions, so we can figure out who you are after that.” 

The boy smiled brightly again, apparently trying to reassure him. 

Zuko couldn’t remember if anyone had ever smiled at him like that, and it felt so unnerving he didn’t even know how to respond to that. Whenever Azula had smiled at him it had always been preceded or followed by a mocking taunt - and Zuko had come to think of it as more of a warning sign than anything... 

“Is that okay -?” the boy prodded, after Zuko’s continued silence.

“Y - yeah,” he said, as if there was another option. Zuko could barely hear his own voice from the wind and he wondered if the boy had even heard him, but Aang seemed to take something as confirmation because he jumped up excitedly. 

“That’s settled then!” Aang said with another ridiculously large grin, and Zuko got the feeling he’d look the same about a rock falling on his head. 

The annoyed water tribe boy grumbled something indecipherable, while the water tribe girl just smiled.

The inhumanly powerful spirit girl smiled too, but there was something mischievous about it. It reminded Zuko of Azula, but noticeably less - _cruel_ , he supposed. It still made him nervous.

The little girl wasn’t really looking at Zuko like the others. In fact she didn’t seem to be looking at anything at all, except the ground. Maybe there was something wrong with her eyesight, or maybe she really was an actual spirit who saw something that humans didn’t.

The little girl had been quiet, but now she said, “And after dinner, you guys can ask him questions, and I’ll tell you whether he’s telling the truth or not.”

“Good plan, Toph! I forgot about that,” Aang said.

The water tribe girl seemed to have finished her cooking and started handing out bowls around the campfire, where they were all sitting together. She looked expectantly at Zuko. 

“You know, you can sit with us here,” she said. “It’s warmer by the fire anyway, this place is pretty windy...”

Zuko only then realized that he was still wearing one of his thin dressing robes over some simple undergarments, and while he wasn't cold, they definitely weren't suitable clothes for traveling. And he’d never even been given shoes - he wasn’t supposed to go out, _ever._

Also his wooden swords must’ve been left behind in the prison, which made him weirdly sad - they’d be useless in a real fight so it's not like they would have been of any help to him, but still --

The kids were still waiting for some kind of reaction from him again, so Zuko tried to stand up - and stay up. But his feet felt even more unstable than usual and there was a painful throb on the left side of his head - which made him suddenly realize that since he couldn’t remember how he’d gotten out from the Palace, the kids must have carried him out. Embarrassment colored his face - it figures the moment he gets the chance to walk out from his prison, he couldn’t even use his own feet to do it, as if the world couldn’t wait to humiliate him some more. 

And now he was at the mercy of these kids, all probably younger than he was, and he had no weapons and his firebending skills had weakened after years of very little use, if they even worked anymore.

Azula would absolutely _love_ this.

Zuko was still imagining the look of gleeful delight on Azula's face when she found out about his utterly humiliating escape that he didn't even notice that Aang had walked over to him to remove the rope from his wrists. Face still flushed, Zuko shook off Aang's steadying hand from his arm and ignored his offers for help.

_“I can walk myself,”_ he said tersely, which might have sounded a bit more menacing if his voice had any more force to it than a rattlemouse squeak. 

The sharp sea-grass and little rocks pricked at his feet painfully as he walked, but he bit his tongue to stop himself from wincing at every step - and why did the damn kids have to stare at him the whole time.

He tried to ignore them as much as he could, but couldn't hide that his shoulders sagged visibly with relief once he finally got to sit back down and fold his legs under the robe. After he had recovered from another bout of dizziness and whooshing in his ears, Zuko focused his eyes on the fire, which felt like the only familiar thing left in a situation where nothing made sense anymore. 

The warmth of the flames washed over him, and after all the overwhelming changes it felt so comforting that more than anything he just wanted to lie down on the ground and fall asleep, for a very long time. And maybe once he woke up the kids would be already gone, and he could finally be free to do what he wanted and go where he wanted. But obviously that wasn't going to happen.

The kids hadn't started eating yet, and they kept looking at Zuko like they expected him to say or do something. Apparently he had failed some kind of test, because he had no idea what they wanted from him.

The water tribe girl took the soup ladle and scooped up some food into a bowl, then awkwardly walked over to him to set down the bowl on the ground, with a pair of chopsticks placed on top of it. 

"Uh, here you go, you can have more if you want..." she said, and backed away equally awkwardly.

Zuko stared at what looked like tomato-carrot stew for a moment, feeling conflicted about whether he should make an effort to thank the girl -- but he didn't have time to do anything when some giant-eared bat-thing flew out of nowhere and stuck its face in the bowl - 

\- only to immediately jump away with a truly ear-piercing screech, which made everyone startle and flinch back.

_"Momo, no!!"_ the water tribe girl cried out. She quickly waved her hands - and suddenly water flowed through the air and dropped on the creature's head with a big splash, which just resulted in more screeching.

Zuko stared at it blankly, not really knowing how to react, and looked up at the kids. 

"Did Momo just dunk his face in the _chili_ stew??" the water tribe boy asked incredulously. 

"Uh, sorry about that," Aang said. He grabbed the soaked creature up from the ground, and carried it off to the side. "I'm sure Katara can find you another bowl..." The creepy bat-thing wrenched itself free from Aang's hold, and flew off somewhere, chattering angrily the whole way.

Zuko shifted uncomfortably - he felt completely out of his depth, and didn't say anything when the water tribe girl came to bring him another bowl. So, she wasn't just water tribe, but _a waterbender_ \- which was a big problem...

Though, apparently she really _did_ know how to season Fire Nation dishes. 

After a quiet beat, the water tribe boy cleared his throat with no amount of subtleness.

"Well, that was fun," he said, and held out a small stick with a leg on it, “so, uhh, does anyone want some six-legged crabfish?”

* * *

Toph cleaned her teeth with a piece of crabfish bone - she grinned when she heard Katara huffing a disapproving noise in her direction - and leaned back on her hand, stretching out her legs.

Yeah, their day could've gone better, but Toph felt pretty happy overall.

The air was cooler now, so it was getting later in the evening, she'd gotten plenty to eat, and with no big fights scheduled for the next day, she could finally have a good looong sleep.

Toph wasn't too fussed about the details of their past or future plans, she'd leave that to Sokka. Right now, all her friends were safe and together again, and that was all that mattered to her really. 

She chucked away the crabfish bone, and smiled - she could sense their mystery guest was watching her, and Toph amused herself by giving him a knowing grin, which was enough to freak him out and turn away from her.

After Momo had sabotaged his first bowl of tomato-chili stew, he didn't seem to have eaten much - even though his stomach had grumbled loudly, and he'd been amusingly embarrassed about that. Now he was just sitting there waiting for them to start the questioning, and Toph was pretty sure this wasn't the first time he was facing interrogation.

Toph wasn't interested in playing the great detectives like Sokka, she'd already gotten plenty of information about the new kid without asking a single question.

Most noticeably, he seemed to be anxious about pretty much _everything_ , which Toph had to admit was getting kind of distracting.

And to be fair, Toph herself could be pretty scary too. He had seemed freaked out by her from the beginning, and sure people usually had that reaction when they saw a small girl tearing apart metal with her bare hands... It was generally pretty amusing to Toph - but she didn't want him to be _actually_ afraid of her, he'd probably had plenty enough of that already.

He flinched suddenly, and a moment later Toph felt Momo land on the ground next to Aang, who made some sappy baby-noises at him. So, the thieving little lemur had finally returned from his sulking trip -- based on the weird sounds by the cliff Toph was pretty sure Momo had been trying to steal some pelitoucan eggs - emphasis on _trying_.

Okay yeah, it was pretty clear why he'd be wary of Momo now too...

But still, Toph could feel the genuine anxiety and distress radiating from him that seemed pretty excessive considering he was just facing a bunch of kids - and he didn't even know yet that he was sitting only a few steps away _the freaking Avatar._

Which made Toph think that being in a state of constant fear seemed to be second nature to him - and that already told her _a lot_ , considering where they found him... But the others seemed to continue to distrust him, especially Sokka, which probably had something to do with his description of the boy looking obviously 'firenation', whatever that meant.

Maybe it was important to the others, but it had no useful meaning for Toph.

What _she_ could tell about him was that he wasn't used to walking barefooted on anything else than smooth floors, which was definitely understandable if someone had burned his feet. And that from the way he stood he must be about Sokka’s height, but he was also noticeably even lighter than Sokka - which meant that he must be _really_ skinny, since Sokka had been Toph’s definition of lightweight so far. Also his voice was very quiet and kind of scratchy, and it genuinely sounded like he wasn’t used to talking to people, like AT ALL. 

Super skinny and an unused voice - yep, sounded like a prisoner to Toph. And that was all she needed to know at this point.

“Sooo -- ” Toph said impatiently. “Are you all done now, can we start?”

“Yeah, let’s start!” Aang sat cross-legged on one of the rock seats Toph had made, and turned towards the new kid.

Katara and Sokka took their seats too, everyone in full interrogation mode.

The boy just sat on the ground frozen in place - he was even holding his breath, as if he thought it’d be less likely anyone could see him if he just stayed very very still. 

Yeah, there was that anxiety thing again.

“I could make you a nice pebble-free seat too, you know,” Toph said casually. “Though, sorry we’re kinda lacking in fluffy seat cushions.”

The boy didn’t move. Toph nudged the ground under him a bit, since it was clear he wasn't going to answer voluntarily.

“Uhm, okay,” he got up reluctantly, and Toph’s personally designed smooth platform popped into existence. He sat back down on the seat, legs folded under him carefully again - and Toph could pretty confidently guess that he was from a wealthy family, because no one sat automatically straight-backed like that unless they’d been hit on the head enough times as a child to sit 'properly' during fancy dinners. She couldn't wait to introduce him to the joys of shameless slouching.

“So, umm, you’re an earthbender,” he said, which was really just stating the obvious, but Toph humored him.

“Yep, sure am,” she grinned. “Actually, not just any earthbender, but the BEST in the world. You can just ask these guys, and they’ll tell you.” She turned her head visibly towards the others. “Seriously, guys, tell him.”

“Yeah, absolutely! No disagreements there!” Sokka was quick to reply, as she expected.

“Toph’s amazing!!” Aang confirmed.

Katara didn’t say anything. Toph turned towards her -

“Well?”

“Toph, you already know that I agree and we say it all the time, so why’d I need to say it too?”

Toph shrugged, and nodded towards the boy. “He hasn’t heard it from you yet.”

“ _Fine._ Toph is the greatest earth- AND metalbender in the world, and we all _literally_ worship the ground under feet,” Katara said with an overly prissy voice. “Are you happy now?”

“Very.” Toph grinned.

She could feel the slight tremor from the boy when Katara had said 'metalbender', which was a common reaction when it was mentioned. Well, at least he _definitely_ knew that was true. If he hadn't figured out yet how Toph had literally punched her way through the steel door of his prison, he should by now...

“Okay, so let’s start,” Aang said with his usual cheerfulness, and clapped his hands. “First, maybe we should tell who we are. I’m Aang,” - Aang was clearly pointing at himself - “that’s Katara, Sokka and Toph. Katara and Sokka are from the Southern Water Tribe. You already know that Katara's a waterbender, and Toph’s an earthbender - and, well, uh I’m an airbender."

“Sure, Aang, let’s just tell him _aaalll_ about us, I’m sure that won’t come back to haunt us like _ever_ \- ” Sokka said with dripping sarcasm.

“You’re an airbender...” The boy was turned towards Aang. His tone was flat and quiet as usual, but he was clearly taken aback.

“Yeah,” Aang said with a carefully neutral tone, “I’m the last one left. And that there is my air bison, Appa.” The boy turned towards Appa, then back to Aang, and then continued to sit in silence, clearly getting just more and more confused by every passing minute.

Momo jumped on Aang’s head with an attention seeking chirp. “Oh, and this little guy is Momo,” Aang said quickly, "but well, you're already familiar with him..." Apparently Momo wasn't happy with Aang's introduction, because he screeched in a very offended tone and flew away, probably to harass the nesting pelitoucans again.

“So, now that you know who we are, why don’t you tell us something about you? What’s your name?” Aang asked.

The boy was silent for a long moment. Finally - 

“Ling.”

_\- a lie._

Toph smiled a little, she hadn’t really expected otherwise. The others looked at her and she just shrugged casually. 

“True.”

Well, she wasn’t gonna rat on the boy - sorry, _Not_ Ling - straight from the start, she had to see where this was going first.

“And uh, are you from the Fire Nation Capital?” Aang asked.

"Yeah."

_True._

"Did you live in the Palace City? Or - umm, in the Royal Palace?" Aang asked tentatively, "I mean aside from that room you were in..." 

"I -- " Not-Ling shifted very uncomfortably at that question, and seemed upset but eventually replied with a quiet 'yeah' again.

That was true as well, and Toph nodded to the others.

“Were they holding you as a prisoner there?” Katara asked. She had softened her voice the same way she always talked to random strangers she thought had been wronged, usually while she was planning on doing something stupidly heroic to help them.

That question got a very strong reaction from Not-Ling, but Toph could just feel it. He didn’t actually say anything, and he continued to be tensely still and silent long enough that the others just took the hint to move on.

“Are you a firebender?” Sokka asked in an accusatory tone.

Not-Ling seemed very annoyed by that question - or maybe he was just annoyed by Sokka in general, not an unlikely option. But he did actually answer it.

“Yeah, I am,” he said, sounding defensive. 

_True._

Toph shrugged again, acting as nonchalant as possible. “It’s true,” she said. She was pretty sure the boy was observing her closely.

“Riiight...” Sokka let out a breath, probably not the answer he had wanted, but he seemed relieved that he’d actually gotten an honest answer.

“That’s great!” Aang’s reaction was once again completely opposite to Sokka’s. “I haven’t met many firebenders yet -- well, at least not ones who haven’t been trying to attack me... Hey, maybe you could teach me some firebending!”

“What?”

"Uhhh, I mean -" Aang floundered, realizing his mistake.

Sokka slapped his forehead, groaning loudly.

"Why would I do that. Aren’t you an airbender?”

Aang was squirming uncomfortably, “Welll, it’s just that I’m -”

“Aang is SUPER interested in Fire Nation culture,” Katara jumped in for quick damage control, “so he wants to learn _all_ about firebending. I mean it’s really useful to know how that works when fighting against the Fire Nati - ouuhh --" she trailed off, realizing her mistake too. "Not that we want to fight _you_ , of course..." she amended with an uncomfortable laugh.

“This is going so great,” Sokka groaned.

Toph couldn’t blame Not-Ling for being a confused mess. She was half-expecting him to just faint again.

“C’mon guys, ask something useful!” Toph said, and stomped her foot, “I need to get some sleep today too!”

“Right, right, sorry Toph,” Katara placated quickly. 

“So, um, Ling,” Katara returned to her _we-are-your-friends_ voice, “could you tell us something else about yourself? Something that you’re comfortable telling? I know the situation is very difficult, because, well... we were in the Royal Palace, uhh - uninvited... But it seemed to us like you were being held captive, and we genuinely just wanted to help you to get out from there.”

“Yeah, and you don’t have to stay with us, if you don't want to," Aang added. "It would be nice if you did, but we understand it's probably pretty awkward for you, so if you want, tomorrow we can drop you off near a village or something, and then you can go wherever you want to go. Is that okay?”

“So, umm --” Not-Ling cleared his throat again, which didn’t seem to do much for his shaky voice, “so, I’m free to go? You’re not going to do - anything -- ?”

“No,” Aang said, in his most earnest tone, “We’re not going to do anything to you. We’re not going to turn you in to anyone, or try to force you to come with us. As long as you don’t try to attack us, we’ll be cool.”

“Right...” Not-Ling said. He didn’t seem entirely convinced, but Toph could feel his anxiety lift up just a tiny bit.

“But we’d still like to know something about you,” Katara tried again, “Maybe we could help you in some way?”

Not-Ling was quiet for a long time, and they’d almost given up getting an answer, when he finally spoke -

“You were right - umm, earlier,” he said very quietly, slightly turned away, so Toph could tell he didn’t want to look at them. “I -- I was confined in that - that _place,_ for a very long time...”

_True._

Toph didn’t know what had happened to Not-Ling, nothing good obviously, but one thing was clear to her - he was wayyy more afraid of going back to the Capital City than he was afraid of them.

“Oh,” Katara said softly, “I’m so sorry to hear that. We promise you we’re not keeping you as a prisoner. Once we leave this island, you’re free to go.”

Sokka had been strangely quiet, but when he started speaking he was using his Serious Inspector voice.

“So, you were in the Fire Nation Palace for a long time, huh,” Sokka said thoughtfully, almost talking to himself like he did sometimes when he tried to figure something out. “But why there and not the prison? I mean, there must be actual prisons in the Capital City, so I don’t get it. Why were you a prisoner in the Palace?”

Not-Ling immediately tensed up at this line of questioning.

“Did you do something really bad? Like murder-bad?” Sokka questioned. Not-Ling made an annoyed huff. “Hmm, no, I don’t think they’d keep murderers in the Palace - well, aside from the _obvious_ ones..." Sokka huffed too, but continued, "But no, it must be something more - political, maybe? Did you offend some high-and-mighty generals? Or rebel against the Fire Nation?" Sokka hit a point he seemed excited about and his voice got higher again.

“ _No!_ ” Not-Ling said forcefully. “I mean - I -- No, I didn’t --” 

That seemed like a lie to Toph, but she didn’t really want to agitate him further by tattling on him. But Sokka didn't seem to be thinking along the same lines, and continued stubbornly.

"Okay, but if you actually did punch some jerkface Fire Nation general, you should totally tell us, because we'd be absolutely cool with that," Sokka said. "I mean, either you're an actual criminal, or you had to have pissed off someone important to be imprisoned, right?"

Not-Ling really didn't seem to like Sokka's conclusions at all. He was clearly in pretty bad shape to begin with, and he was just getting more and more overwhelmed by the second. Everything about him from his rapid heartbeat to his shallow breathing told Toph that soon he was just going to shut off from them completely. 

Toph wanted to kick Sokka, because he didn't seem to be getting the message at all, but he was too far for that, so instead she sent a pebble flying at his elbow. Sokka rubbed his targeted elbow absently, but kept circling around undeterred, holding on to the topic like a rabbitdog on a bone. 

“If it's not that, then maybe - _oh!_ Then maybe you’re related to the Royal Family or something, and they -”

_“NO.”_ At this the flames in the campfire suddenly spiked up, and the others flinched back, alarmed. Yeah, he was a firebender alright. _“Why are you asking me all this?? What do you want from me??”_ Now he was definitely yelling beyond the capacity of his voice.

Not-Ling was lying, or being confused again, Toph wasn’t sure, but she knew they weren’t getting anywhere like this, so she sent a much bigger pebble flying at Sokka’s elbow.

“Okay okay...” Sokka finally gave up. He turned sharply towards Toph, which meant he was glaring at her. She just grinned innocently.

Katara stood up, her peacemaker instincts kicking in. “Okay, I think we’ve all had a long day. Maybe we just need a good night’s sleep, and we can figure out what to do tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Aang stood up too. “We’ll be safe here for the night, so we should all get some rest.”

Not-Ling was so withdrawn after his outburst that he didn’t seem to be paying any attention to them anymore. They started preparing their sleeping bags, and Katara went to give him one of their extra blankets. When he didn’t acknowledge her at all, she just left it on the ground next to him. 

He didn’t move anywhere from his spot, so they figured he’d probably just sleep there, if he was going to sleep at all.

“Shouldn’t we - you know?” Sokka said, and probably indicated something, because Katara answered him -

“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea to tie him up anymore --” she said quietly.

“Toph...” Aang asked.

She waved him off, “Yeah yeah, don’t worry, I’ll keep my ear on him. Just go to sleep.” She’d gotten used to being a light sleeper anyway, being Team Avatar’s official number one alarm system and all.

As the others settled in for the night, Toph made her way to Not-Ling. She set down her sleeping roll nearby, within easy hearing distance from him. He was looking at her for a while, clearly suspiciously, but eventually exhaustion took over him too and he settled down on the blanket as well.

Toph waited.

She tapped the ground with her fingers, which usually helped to gather her thoughts. There was only a thin layer of soil and sand on top of the hard rock of the cliffs underneath them, and the sharp blades of sea-grass didn't make the ground feel any softer. It probably wasn't a very comfortable place to sleep.

Still, predictably Sokka started snoring soon, as usual. Aang was snoozing against the considerably softer surface of Appa, probably with Momo curled up with them. Even Katara had fallen asleep.

But Not-Ling hadn’t. He was just pretending to sleep, as if that could fool Toph.

“Hey,” Toph said quietly.

The boy tensed up immediately.

“I know you’re awake, and don’t worry I’m not gonna do anything.” 

Toph hesitated, she wasn’t used to being the one to offer comfort. Katara usually took that role, but she had the feeling that the others weren’t really getting just how badly their kidnapped guest was reacting to them, not like Toph did anyway.

“I know you’re scared,” she started carefully, “I don’t know what you’re scared about, but I promise that you don’t need to be scared of us. Aang is a powerful bender, but he’s like a big mushy warm cloud. Katara can be pretty intense sometimes, but she really cares about people, and I can tell she wants to help you. And Sokka - Sokka’s an idiot, but he’s a smart idiot. He’ll come around. Besides he REALLY likes solving mysteries, and you know, you’re as mysterious as they come.” 

She grinned at him, hoping that his tension would ease up a bit. Not-Ling still wasn't saying anything, but at least he was listening.

“Also I know you were lying about your name, at least, and some other things...”

He was quiet for a moment, then - 

“Why didn’t you tell them?” he asked, keeping his voice low as well, which he probably was used to anyway.

“That I knew you were lying?” She tilted her head towards him. “You do realize I’m blind, right? The others can see you, but I can’t. Maybe they could tell you were lying, maybe not. But I can only tell from the earth what you’re feeling. I can feel your breathing through the ground - and you seemed pretty upset already, so I didn’t want to upset you any more. I won’t tell them anything you don’t want to.”

A long silence again, which seemed to be a part of any conversation with him. 

“Okay -- thank you...”

_Sincere._

Toph smiled. “No problem.” 

But something was still nagging at her. She thought now she might even have a chance of getting an answer.

“I still have a question. Well, technically two - or three...”

“Umm, okay --”

“So, okay, it was kind of weird - how we found you,” Toph said, frowning to herself. She’d been wondering about it. “Actually, the reason we went to the Palace was to look for the Fire Lord,” at which Not-Ling flinched so palpably that Toph had to pause, “- but, umm, it’s kind of a long story. Anyway, the whole place was empty, there weren’t even any guards to stop us, which was really weird too. So, we were just going to leave -- that’s when I heard something, like really deep underground. And it sounded like a voice, like someone yelling, which is why I told the others we should check it out. And well - that was you, right?” Toph confirmed, and tilted her head, genuinely curious. “How did you know someone was there? Were you calling for help?”

But Toph could immediately guess she wasn’t going to get an answer, because Not-Ling seemed as confused by that as she was.

“I - didn’t know - I had no idea anyone was there --” he finally answered. 

“So you were just yelling, by yourself? Did something happen?”

“I --”

He didn’t seem to know how to answer, so she decided to leave it for now, and ask the other thing that was bothering her -

“Okay, well,” she hesitated again, “- that place where we found you, like I said it was really deep underground, so your room was completely cut off from sunlight, and um, firebenders are supposed to get their energy and power from the sun, right? So doesn't that mean that being imprisoned underground is kind of like torture for firebenders?"

His breathing was getting quick and shallow again, but she still needed to ask.

“How long were you down there?”

Toph waited patiently, if she tried to rush him, he probably wouldn’t say anything at all.

Then she clearly felt the moment he decided to tell her -

“Three years - I - I think, I’m not sure exactly --”

She nearly sat up in surprise, before barely remembering to keep quiet so as not to wake the others.

“Three years??,” she whispered furiously. “That’s long, like _really_ long. So, wait - you didn’t get out of there at all, and you didn’t even see any sunlight, for _three years?_ ”

He made a choked sound, which was confirmation enough for her.

"No --"

“Wow. That _sucks._ That’s like Aang making me fly on Appa for three years, and not letting me get back on the ground, not even once. _Except way worse_.” 

He must have been watching her, and Toph suddenly felt weirdly helpless and torn -- because she could kind of relate, but at the same time she was painfully aware it wasn't the same _at all_.

“Shit,” she said sympathetically.

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've never posted anything on ao3 before, but I figured I could finally give it a try (these days my mind is adding an ominous 'while I can...' to that lol).
> 
> I'm hoping and actually planning to update this fic with a new chapter ~~every week~~ *, but ngl it may vary depending on levels of crushing self-criticism and real life shittiness yay...  
> *real life shittiness won, so nope, make that every two weeks or so...
> 
> Anyway, if you gave this fic a chance and read this far, thank you!! <33 I would really love to hear from you! :)


	3. A fresh burning start

***

_**3\. A fresh burning start** _

***

Katara woke up just as the first rays of sunrise started to warm her up.

She sat up with a deep yawn and a long stretch - and then grimaced when her stiff back immediately protested at that. Sleeping on the hard ground really made her understand Gran Gran and her constantly achy joints on a whole new level - and unfortunately 'hard ground' seemed to be the _only_ kind of surface where they slept on anymore...

No wonder Sokka was always complaining about his back. 

Well, at least some of them were feeling comfortable - she smiled softly at Aang, who was still sleeping curled up against Appa’s long fur, and the Momo-shaped hat on top of his head.

Katara stood up and looked over the windy cliff, which may not have been the comfiest camping place, but the view from the island was absolutely beautiful. The wide grassy plane only had a few wind-beaten trees, and she could see the open ocean in almost every direction. The distant waves in the horizon were glittering with golden little stars as the sunlight reached them.

Okay, beautiful and _noisy,_ like Toph had predicted. Unfortunately it turned out that the pelitoucans flying around the cliffs with their big colorful beaks sounded _just_ as loud as they looked like.

Maybe she should just be happy she got ANY sleep at all.

Then Katara saw she wasn’t the only one awake.

Or had Ling been sleeping at all? It looked like he hadn't moved from his spot from the previous night. He was sitting cross-legged on top of the blanket Katara had given him, and facing towards the rising sun --

\- oh right, _a firebender..._

Toph was still sleeping soundly just a few steps away from him, but he didn't seem to be too bothered by that.

Then he turned towards Katara and noticed her - she flushed a little, embarrassed at being caught staring. It was a bit too awkward to casually wish a good morning now, so she just settled for a smile that probably ended up looking more like an uncomfortable grimace. Well, she was supposed to be doing something else anyway, which was... right, gathering their food and packing it on Appa - also, waking the others.

Ling, of course, said nothing either and soon turned back towards the sunrise. 

Katara decided to let him have his moment of peace, and went around to pick up their leftover food and packing whatever was still edible. She gave away the rest to Momo, who as usual had immediately appeared at the first sign of possible breakfast. 

She should really wake up the others now, but...

Katara saw that Ling was watching her cautiously again. She felt like she should say something, but had no idea how to approach him. He seemed so withdrawn into himself that it was hard to say if he was actually _looking_ at anything, or if his eyes were just constantly glazed over, unaware of his surroundings. 

Katara had seen people look like that before -- _she_ had probably looked like that at some of the lowest points in her life. That was the part of her that had seen the gaunt teenage boy hiding from them in the shadows, and refused to leave behind someone who had so obviously been mistreated.

But another part of her also easily recognized in him that same disdain she had seen so many Fire Nation citizens display towards Water Tribe members, or really anyone NOT from the Fire Nation - and it made her mad that even though they had rescued him he might still continue to think of them as lowly scum.

Katara wouldn't stand for that anyway, but she doubted calling him out on that directly would end up well, so for now she decided to focus on the part of her that genuinely wanted to help him. 

It was obvious he’d been injured and the clothes he was wearing probably wouldn't be suitable for traveling high up in the cool sea air, so she snatched up some of Sokka’s old clothes from his bag - she’d face his wrath later - and with determination headed towards the boy. Ling immediately looked alarmed when he saw her approach him.

“Um, hey, I couldn’t help but notice that your clothes seem very thin,” Katara started tentatively, “and flying on Appa can get really cold, so I thought maybe you’d like something warmer.”

Ling had been looking at her blankly, until she showed him one of Sokka’s old Water Tribe clothes, at which he scowled and turned away with a sharp, " _No._ "

Okay, so it was like that then. 

“Suit yourself,” Katara said tightly. She felt foolish for expecting some Fire Nation teenager to treat people from other nations with respect - or to just have some _common sense._

Katara left him to sulk on his own, and went to wake up the others.

As they went about their usual morning routines, Ling sat quietly turned away from them, and no one felt comfortable enough to approach him -- well, aside from Toph’s cheerful “Good morning, sleepyhead!” followed by a tiny little nudge (it was far softer than Toph’s usual 'friendly punches', which was weirdly nice of her), and Aang’s equally cheerful “Oh wow, the sky looks really great today, doesn’t it?” that was aimed somewhere in Ling’s general direction.

But it was easy enough to ignore his sulking, because they were all distracted and anxious to get back on the move, brimming with both nervousness and excitement. 

Katara couldn’t help casting worrying glances at Aang, who seemed to be so full of nervous energy that he could barely sit still long enough to eat their quick breakfast meal. 

If everything went well and they could make it to Meng-shu Valley by nightfall, Katara and Sokka would be able to see their dad again, after an extremely rare one day of separation (which _still_ managed to feel too long) -- and Aang might _finally_ meet his firebending teacher. Their previous plans hadn’t exactly gone smoothly, and all of their new ones solely depended on Aang being able to master firebending -

\- and so far he hadn't been able to make a single flame after his first disastrous try...

After breakfast, Katara dug out their Fire Nation clothes, and handed them out to the others. Sokka had said that the southern part of Jinzhu was probably going to be mostly uninhabited, but it was still better to be safe than sorry and wear their disguises, just in case they ran into any Fire Nation citizens on the way. Besides, Zhao and the others always seemed to catch up to them, no matter how many evasive moves they did, and if any villagers on Jinzhu saw a strange group of kids walking around on their island - well, word went around fast. 

Not that any amount of disguises would make their little group _not_ look strange...

But there was another problem they now needed to worry about too --

Ling had ignored Katara’s breakfast offer and was sitting silently staring at the ground instead of the sky now. No one had expected any voluntary communication from him anyway, but now that it was time to leave, everyone glanced over at Ling uncomfortably - except Toph of course.

“Sooo...” Toph said impatiently. “Are we gonna get on moving, or what?”

Sokka crossed his arms, “I don’t know, can we trust him enough to take him on Appa? What if he tries to attack us in the air?” He looked at Aang. "And Aang, if we let him go and he tells someone about us, we're not the only ones who'd be in trouble...”

Aang looked torn. “Are you saying we should just leave him here?”

Sokka shrugged, “I mean, yeah, why not. Sure no one lives on this island, except some annoying birds, but there are still ships passing by this place - someone could pick him up --”

Katara sighed, she didn’t trust the firebender either, but she also couldn’t leave him here knowing that it would probably seal his fate. 

“Sokka, the likelihood of that happening anytime soon is very slim. There is barely any food or proper shelter on this island, and well, no offense,” she said to the boy, and then turned back to Sokka and lowered her voice, “but he doesn’t look like he might last very long here...”

“Yeah --” Aang said.

“What are you guys yammering about??” Toph stomped over to stand in front of them. “Listen, our friend Ling here is a total lightweight, and no offense,” she said to Ling, who was starting to look annoyed _and offended_ , “but I bet even Sokka could take him in a fight -”

_“Hey!!”_

“-- if you’re that worried, just tie him up for the flight,” Toph continued, ignoring Sokka as usual, and turned towards Ling. “You don’t want to stay here, right? I mean I like rocks, but even I think this is one REALLY dull piece of rock, and you’ll get tired of fried pelitoucan eggs in like two days tops.”

Ling stared at Toph for a moment, and then flicked his eyes towards the others.

Aang rubbed his neck, and looked apologetic, “Uh, would you be okay with us tying you up again, I mean, just for a while!” he quickly reassured. “And maybe we can find some place where we could leave you safely... I really did mean it when I said you’re not our prisoner, we’re just being cautious. You understand, right?”

Ling didn’t look very happy about that, but then again, his face seemed incapable of showing any positive emotion at all. Katara thought it might be downright uncanny to see him smile.

" _Fine,_ but I wasn’t going to do anything...” Ling mumbled, and shifted nervously. “Then I can leave, right? I can go --”

“Yeah, you can go! I promise!" Aang said, then hesitated and added, "I mean, unless you want to come with us?”

Sokka was already shaking his head at Aang, while the boy frowned and looked away.

"No."

Toph crossed her arms, looking very unhappy, but said nothing.

"Oh, okay. Sure, that's up to you," Aang said carefully.

Katara exchanged looks with Aang, and she took some of the heavier ropes they had. Since he was a firebender he could still burn through them, but she soaked the ropes in water before tying them multiple times around his wrists behind his back - at least they wouldn’t burn off as quickly that way.

He flinched and grimaced at the cold wet ropes when she pulled them tight.

“Sorry,” Katara muttered. 

Momo was already staring at them from Appa's saddle, when they climbed in. Aang jumped lightly on Appa’s head, and then after a moment’s hesitation he lifted Ling upwards with a slight gust of wind under his feet. Ling nearly fell back to the ground in surprise, but Sokka caught him by his arm and pulled him up enough that Ling got over the edge of the saddle. 

He collapsed down ungracefully and leaned back against the saddle's edge, breathing heavily and looking pale - well, _paler._

“Are you okay?” Katara asked.

Ling nodded - though Katara highly doubted that he would ever admit otherwise. 

Appa took to the air, and Aang steered the bison further up towards the sky. Everyone else was already more than familiar with flying on Appa at this point, but Ling’s eyes widened as he stared down at the island and the sea getting rapidly more distant as they got higher.

Sokka grinned at him, “First-time flyer, I see.”

He ignored Sokka and kept looking in genuine wonder over the saddle’s edge - except that he probably couldn’t see much since the wind kept whipping his hair in front of his eyes, and of course he couldn't use his hands to push them away either.

Katara, who had plenty of experience with tangled hair after their flights, took pity on the boy. 

“Do you want me to tie your hair?”

She was almost certain Ling was going to say no, probably very snappily - before another gust of wind blocked his vision with hair, and he huffed in frustration before nodding to her.

"Okay..."

Katara smiled, and took one of the red hair-ribbons she kept in her bag. She gathered up a few of the longest strands of hair from the front, and tied them together at the back of his head, spinning the ribbon around them neatly the way she’d seen some people wear their hair in the Fire Nation villages. 

"Is that better?" She looked down from her work, and was met with two intense golden eyes staring at her. 

“Uhm, yeah -- thank you,” the words sounded like they were reluctantly dragged out, but it was the first time he’d swallowed his pride enough to actually thank her.

She smiled, “You’re welcome.”

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Well, now that we know hairdressing makes him a softie, maybe we should just braid his hair before we release him off to the wild, might save a few lives --”

Katara gave Sokka a scolding look, and bumped his foot out of the way as she went back to sit down next to him.

Toph grinned widely, and showed both her thumbs up enthusiastically to no one in particular. 

“Looks great, Sparky!”

“ _Sparky!_ ” Sokka wheezed gleefully, and slapped his knee. “Oh good one, Toph, gotta remember that!”

The boy just stared at them with that comically confused expression again.

Aang hopped on the edge of the saddle from Appa’s head, and peered at them, head tilted. “Yeah, it looks good on you! It'd be great if we could get you some new clothes too. We got a pretty good collection from the laundry yard last time, maybe we should find one again!”

“True,” Sokka agreed, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully, “they did have a surprisingly convenient selection for Fire Nation disguises...”

Ling didn’t look too happy about them stealing from people in the Fire Nation, but said nothing. He still seemed mesmerized by their surroundings, and ignored his traveling companions in favor of gazing down at the tiny distant ripples of waves. Appa glided steadily across the sky, and the morning sunlight was glowing softly through the clear white clouds that drifted by them. Ling looked much calmer than before, and blinked his eyes sleepily.

Katara wondered if now would be a good time to ask him some more questions to find out what had happened to him - and whether they could trust him. But she didn’t want to break what seemed to be a rare peaceful moment for him, it did look like he really needed this.

So instead, Katara turned to Aang. 

“So Aang, are you excited to meet your new, umm -" she hesitated, and glanced at Ling from the corner of her eye, "- you know, _teacher?_ ” 

“Yeah!” Aang grinned, “And uh, nervous... But it’s a good thing that I’ve already met him, so I know it’s not going to be another _Jeong Jeong_ , ughh...” he groaned, and pulled a face.

“Hmmm, I guess he was pretty cool for a _you-know_ guy,” Sokka admitted. 

“What are you talking about?!” Toph was indignant. “He's WAYYY cooler than you, Sokka!!”

" _How am I not cool??_ " Sokka turned to her flabbergasted. “I’m literally from a place made of ice!! I was _BORN_ cool!!”

Toph groaned. Katara rolled her eyes, “Seriously, Sokka?”

“The weather’s great, though!” Aang called out happily, ignoring Sokka’s quality humor and peering over the saddle. “I think we can reach our destination before noon! But when we land we gotta give Appa a break - this armor saddle is _way_ too heavy for long flights. And also, uhh, we should decide where we can take Ling...”

Katara looked over at Ling, who had clearly been listening to them, but stayed quiet as usual. He only seemed to talk if addressed directly, and even then with extreme reluctance. By now it seemed highly unlikely he would want to help them in any way, and they would probably just waste too much time trying to appeal to him.

She leaned back and looked up at the sky where the sun was getting higher, but it would still be a couple of hours before it reached the zenith.

Despite Sokka’s initial concerns, the rest of the ride went smoothly, without any surprise fire-attacks from their guest. Katara was content to just sit and relax for the rest of the flight, and watch the soothing clouds go by as Toph snored loudly against her shoulder.

* * *

During the years he spent half-asleep in a dark prison, Zuko would have never thought that he'd still feel endlessly tired after getting out from there.

It was high noon on a summer day and he'd literally never been closer to the sun, and yet he could barely keep his eyes open -- and he did really want to keep them open, because he also definitely would have _never_ imagined being able to see something like this in his life...

He spent most of their weird bison flight leaning against the saddle's edge in a drowsy haze, sometimes briefly nodding off, and whenever he opened his eyes again to blink against the bright sky, the view was never anything less than impressive. 

All along the way, numerous small islands passed by far below them. Most seemed to be barely more than just very big rocks, but some of the islands were much larger with terrains ranging from vast barren hills and steep imposing cliffs to lush green forests covering old volcanic craters. There were even more islands in the distant horizon, but Zuko could only see their faint silhouettes between the sky and the ocean - they reminded him of the old washed out landscape paintings hanging in the royal tea rooms. 

Also, they reminded him of how little he'd seen of the Fire Nation archipelago outside of the Capital Island, and he regretted that he was feeling too tired now to be able to appreciate the view more, since he'd probably never see anything like this again.

He did try to make an effort to keep track of the islands, since he could still roughly estimate the distances between most of them. A while ago they had flown past a volcanic island with an unusually long narrow shoreline, which had such a distinct shape that he was pretty sure it was one of the crescent islands close to a deep ocean trench near the southern sea.

So, despite the fact that the farthest he had ever traveled in his life had been somewhere around Ember Island, it wasn't difficult to guess their current location.

The sky bison started slowly descending, and Zuko saw the jagged shoreline of Jinzhu Island come into sharper view. This side of the island seemed to be covered by a vast pine forest, and a little further ahead there was a mountainous area edging along the northern coastline, its limestone cliffs glowing brightly in the sunlight. They must be the White Cliffs of Meng-shu, which also meant that there wouldn't be a single village nearby --

Zuko glanced at the kids uncomfortably, would they really go out of their way to take him somewhere closer to a village, or did they expect him to walk across half the island by himself...

At the moment, though, they didn't seem to be paying much attention to him.

"Oh, that's beautiful," Katara remarked with a smile, also leaning against the saddle's edge and looking over the island.

"Sure seems great," Toph grumbled, while clinging on to Sokka's arm as they glided further down. So, she hadn't been lying when she said she hated flying...

"Okay, so we're landing by the coast, because Aang wants to give Appa a bath," Sokka announced formally, "which is probably a good idea since the armor got kind of dirty in the battle yesterday -"

"- and smelly!" Aang called out from his place at Appa's reins.

"- yes thank you, Aang, believe me, _we have noticed,_ " Sokka replied to him dryly. "So, we can have a break there, and you know - uh, discuss - about things, and uhh stuff --"

Sokka glanced over at Zuko, and grinned sheepishly when he saw that Zuko was glaring at him.

Soon after they arrived to a secluded beach next to the pine forest, and as the kids jumped down from the bison, Zuko looked at them expectantly - waiting for someone to untie him.

Aang was the only one left on the saddle with him, and he walked over to Zuko, offering his hand for assistance again -

"Aren't you going to untie me?" Zuko asked tensely, but he could already guess the answer from Aang's uncomfortable grimace. 

"Uhh, well - we will, once we figure out where to take you - but I don't think you're dangerous or anything!" Aang quickly added, but didn't look any less uncomfortable. "It's just - we've had some bad experiences with firebenders before, so we're just being cautious... But don't worry, I'll help you down and you can take a break for a while too -"

Zuko frowned at Aang's hand, and gritted his teeth in annoyance - first they were paranoid he might throw them off the saddle in midair, and now they didn't even let him walk freely on the beach by himself, so apparently just being a firebender made them think he was inherently untrustworthy. And if they were so worried about 'bad experiences with firebenders', maybe they shouldn't have attacked the Fire Nation Capital in the first place...

He ignored Aang once again, and climbed over the edge of the saddle on his own - but of course, he couldn't really hold onto anything, slipped on the bison’s metal armor and slid down until he hit the ground with a thud, getting more than a mouthful of sand in the process.

He grimaced in pain, and sighed heavily as he leaned against the bison - might as well take a break here then.

Aang jumped lightly to the ground next to him. 

"Are you okay?" he asked, and looked apologetic again, "And uhm, sorry, I know Appa's a really comfy cushion, but I need to take him for a wash soon, so --"

Zuko closed his eyes in frustration, getting more annoyed by the second.

" _Fine,_ I'll go somewhere else then..."

"It's okay, take your time, you don't have to get up yet," Aang said with a placating voice, "I'll need to meet up with the others first, but I'll come back soon." And then he skipped away with his seemingly weightless steps, and went to join his friends.

Zuko glared after him for a while, before turning to look at the tall forest surrounding the beach, and considered his options.

There were only two notable villages on Jinzhu Island, and one of them had a harbor with regular ferry connections to Shuhon Island. Going to Shuhon might be the safest option at the moment, since it was large and populated enough that Zuko wouldn’t particularly stand out to anyone, and it could be easier to hide there. 

But both of those villages were on the other side of the island, and reaching them would require at least half a day of walking, which felt impossible to him at the moment. Unless the kids actually kept their promise, and gave him a ride there --

Zuko eyed the kids who were talking amongst themselves, notably far away enough that he couldn’t hear them. Whatever they were planning, they clearly didn't want him to know about it, and it was getting more and more unlikely that they would actually be willing to take him anywhere - or letting him go at all. He felt stupid for ever hoping that they hadn’t been lying to him.

He glanced over his shoulder at the giant hairy bison (which still bothered him, weren’t they supposed to be extinct?) -- and well, there was a ride right next to him, but... 

Just as he was contemplating whether it would be just _a slightly_ bad or _an extremely_ bad idea to try to steal the kid’s bison, he saw Aang, Katara and Sokka walking towards him - and sighed in resignation, figuring that it would definitely be closer to the second option...

Toph wasn't with them, and Zuko watched as she stomped down to the shoreline, aggressively flattened a large rock and jumped on top of it to lounge around moodily. So far she'd been weirdly defensive of him, though he had no idea why, but he did get the feeling that if she and the other kids had a disagreement it probably didn't mean anything good for him.

"Hey buddy, it's bath time now!" Aang called out to his bison, and Appa bellowed at them loudly enough to startle Zuko up on his feet.

Zuko stepped aside anxiously, not sure what they expected him to do.

"We need to wash the armor too," Katara said, "Sokka, can you help me take down our stuff, so that Aang can lift off the armor --"

The kids started carrying their things, and Zuko hovered around uncomfortably - until Aang looked over at Zuko, and gave one of his apologetic smiles again. He seemed to be doing that a lot. 

"Uh, you can just sit down and rest somewhere, this might take a while."

That was just fine with Zuko, he had no energy for anything else at the moment anyway. He walked slowly up the beach, leaving the kids to do whatever they were doing. He looked down at his toes sinking in the soft sand while walking - which was a weird sensation, but not a bad one. At least it was a big improvement from the painfully rocky ground of the previous island. 

He was too tired to walk far, and sat down on the first grassy patch that he could find. Aang and Katara were still fussing with their bison, and Zuko expected that the kids would leave him alone for a while, so that he would be able to gather his thoughts in peace. 

But with his luck, obviously not. 

He watched suspiciously as Sokka set down a box nearby him, and then made several more back and forth trips to carry more stuff from the saddle to his pile. Sokka finally looked up at Zuko, and just shrugged with feigned casualness. 

"Don't mind me, just chill - or grill there, whatever you firebenders do - I'm just organizing our stuff here --"

"Yeah, right..." Zuko muttered.

Sokka could've 'organized' his stuff anywhere on the empty beach, but he just happened to do it in a place where he could constantly glance sideways to keep an eye on Zuko. 

Zuko sighed heavily, he hated being constantly scrutinized by them - and he couldn't even sit comfortably with his arms pulled back and the heavy ropes pressing on his wrists all the time. He really should find a way to get away from the kids - he just needed an opportunity to get rid of the ropes. They were still wet, but he could heat them up with his hands and burn them away, it wouldn’t be difficult - the problem was _when_ he should do it.

For now, he figured he should wait for a while first to see what the kids were planning to do...

So far, not much it seemed.

A few steps away from him, Sokka was muttering to himself and sniffed at a little bag he was holding, “We still have leftover seaweed?” and then scrunched up his nose in disgust,” - ughh, yeah no, Momo can have that..."

While Aang and Katara seemed to be having a good time as they were washing the bison and its armor - which looked a lot less like actual washing, and a lot more like just aimlessly splashing around in the water with their boundless amounts of energy. Zuko felt his own energy draining just by watching them...

Next to the shoreline, Katara waterbended a large wave that she dropped down on the bison, and it shook itself spraying water all around it - and most notably on Toph, who was lounging on her rock nearby. She yelled out an indignant _“Hey, slugheads, watch it!”_ when she got drenched in the aftermath.

"Sorry, Toph!!" Aang yelled out to her.

She got up from her rock with an angry grunt, and Sokka and Zuko watched warily as a soaking wet Toph stomped in their direction.

Her first destination, and victim of cranky ire, was Sokka. 

"Gimme some food."

Sokka frowned at her, "You already ate breakfast, and we don't have a lot of food left..."

"I'm busy, no questions, gimme food."

Sokka grumbled something, but pulled out a paper wrap from one of the baskets, and handed it over to Toph -

"What's this?"

"Uhh, it's the leftover dried crabfish from yesterday..."

"Okay, gimme some hotflakes too."

"Hey, I'm not running a restaurant here!!" Sokka complained, and muttered something sourly again, but he did give Toph a bag of hotflakes as well.

Toph snatched it from him with a clipped " _thanks_ ", and then turned towards Zuko.

He tensed as Toph walked over to him with fierce determination. She stopped right in front of him, and held out the paper wrap.

"Here, take it, and you _better_ eat it. I'm not coming over here again, because I freaking hate walking on sand - it's so _mushy,_ " she lifted her foot and sand hovered over it before falling back down lamely. Zuko wasn't sure what to do and when he failed to do anything, she frowned in annoyance at him, " _Well??_ "

"Uhh, I can't, you guys tied my hands..."

" _What??_ " Toph screeched, and turned towards Sokka, pointing at him with the wrap, "You STILL haven't untied him?? Ugh, seriously!!"

Sokka made some whiny defensive noises, and Toph huffed loudly. 

"Whatever, just eat it when your hands are NOT tied then," Toph dropped the paper wrap on Zuko's lap. "But _I'm_ keeping the hotflakes."

"Okay, uh, thanks..." 

Zuko felt whiplashed by her bluntness again, and she looked so stormy he didn't really dare to disobey her wishes. He watched as Toph went back to flatten another rock by the beach, and hopped on it, clutching her bag of hotflakes. 

Then he glanced over at Sokka, who shrugged at him.

"Eh, maybe you can have it as a travel snack?"

Toph was now bathing and drying in the sun, while lazily throwing hotflakes in her mouth. Zuko couldn’t help staring at her - she was confusing, like everything else about these kids, and he didn't really understand why any of them behaved the way they did. When Toph had spoken to him the previous night, she had sounded weirdly genuine - and almost caring, and he couldn't deny that maybe there was some hidden little childish part of him that was tempted to stay with them just because of that...

But there was definitely a louder voice in his mind, which always ended up sounding a lot like Azula, and kept reminding him that no matter what Toph and the others said to him, they were still from the enemy nations, and not just that but a part of _enemy forces_ , who had openly admitted to him that they had attacked the Fire Nation Capital - and if he aided them in any way he would be betraying his people --

\- and then he would _truly_ deserve the death sentence. 

Though, of course, that's what was inevitably waiting for him, whether he deserved it or not...

Considering what had happened the last time he had tried to escape, Zuko didn’t even dare to think how furious his father would be with him now. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that this time the Fire Lord would really order him to be executed - the only question that remained was _how_... and Zuko didn’t really want to find out an answer to that.

But unless someone else managed to kill him first, Azula would eventually find him and take him to the Fire Lord - and she would definitely _not_ give up before that. How could she miss the chance to drag her disgraced brother back to the Royal Palace in a humiliating spectacle that would mark her final victory as the prodigal heir to the throne. 

It would already be humiliating enough when Azula inevitably found out that Zuko hadn’t actually escaped at all, but instead had been taken as a prisoner _again_ \- by a bunch of children.

He really didn't want to think about those scenarios, but he couldn't wrap his mind around any other possibilities either. Obviously if he wanted to stay alive, he couldn't go anywhere near his home anymore - but he had no idea where else to go, and he didn’t know anyone who to go _to_... Realistically he would have a much better chance of survival somewhere outside of the Fire Nation, but it wasn't an option he liked at all - and going that far definitely felt too exhausting and complicated to even consider yet.

At least it should be convenient that apparently everyone thought he was dead, but somehow that just made him feel worse, and almost guilty -- 

\- like he shouldn't even be here anymore, and now he'd just broken something that had already been fixed...

After a while his eyes started to focus again, and he realized he'd been staring too long at the endless ebb and flow of the ocean waves on the shore, and hadn't really paid attention to what the kids were doing. 

He turned to look at his self-appointed guard, who'd gotten weirdly quiet and still. He saw that Sokka was studying a scroll spread out on the ground in front of him, pursing his lips and looking very concentrated. Zuko tilted his head, trying to get a better look at what seemed like some kind of a map, but then Sokka noticed that Zuko was watching him --

He quickly scrambled to roll up the scroll, and stuffed it hastily into his green bag. 

“Uh, hey there, did’ya need something? More hair ties? Hotflakes?” Sokka wheezed, and grinned in a ridiculously childish effort to be casual.

Zuko frowned at him, Sokka's reaction once again being more suspicious than anything else - there was no reason for him to act like that if he wasn't doing something that Zuko definitely wouldn't like. 

Then Katara interrupted them, and he could audibly hear Sokka's sigh of relief.

"Hey, we've finished washing Appa and the armor, so we can start getting ready to leave soon," Katara said, mainly to Sokka. She glanced at Zuko watching them, and gave him that awkward strained smile again.

She turned back to Sokka, and stared at the neat piles of stuff he had organized while conveniently keeping an eye on Zuko.

"What are you doing, Sokka?"

"What does it look like!" Sokka grumbled to her, "I'm making an inventory, since no one else is doing it! We're gonna need to fill up on our supplies soon, and we're running low on food again -" 

"Okay, uhh, do you want me to help you?" Katara asked, and picked up a pair of fur-lined boots from the ground. "What are you going to do with these?"

"Oh, those - they go to the shoe pile, if you don't mind --"

“What, why would we have a shoe pile?”

“Why not? We need shoes!!”

“Because we’re _wearing_ them!! You’re the only one dragging snow boots around the Fire Nation in the middle of summer!”

“Jeez, can you blame a guy for being prepared...” Sokka muttered, turning his back to her, and shifted through the pile of blankets. “Ohhh, there's my fluffy pillow!” 

Katara placed her hands on her hips with an indignant huff, “- _your_ fluffy pillow?? We’re all sharing the same pillows, Sokka!”

“Excuse me, but I _reserved_ that pillow like on the first day! You were there, Katara!!”

“Why do _you_ get the least lumpy pillow??”

_“I have sensitive skin, you know that!!”_

“I’ve _literally_ seen you fall asleep on top of a fire-ant nest and you didn’t notice a thing!!”

Katara and Sokka's cooperative organizing turned into chaotic arguing in about thirty seconds, and Zuko had no idea what they were talking about anymore and he was pretty sure they didn't know either. But he had to admit that he felt almost bitter listening to them. He tried to remember if he'd ever argued like that with Azula in his life - or really any argument with her that _hadn't_ ended up with literal death threats.

The last person who had admonished them both for petty arguing had been their mom - and after she was gone, Zuko had lost pretty much every argument with Azula by default. And as they got older, the cost of losing had gotten increasingly higher...

Katara and Sokka didn't seem to have the same problem, and they probably would’ve continued on pointlessly arguing for another infinity, if Zuko didn’t let out a startled yelp when the creepy bat-creature - apparently some kind of lemur - suddenly jumped on his shoulder and stared at him nose to nose with large unnerving eyes.

Aang was walking after his weird pet lemur, and smiled brightly at Zuko. 

"Oh hey, looks like Momo's really trying to make friends with you!"

Zuko winced when the lemur screeched at him again and flew off back to Aang. Sokka laughed, obviously, since he seemed to find anything that annoyed Zuko to be absolutely hilarious.

Aang stopped in front of Zuko, and rocked on his heels awkwardly.

"So, uhh, Ling - me and my friends were talking earlier," Aang started hesitantly. "- and, um, since you don't want to come with us, there's a road nearby leading to Yajima-village, so I could probably drop you off there with Appa..."

"Okay -- just the road, and not the village?" Zuko frowned.

"Uh, yeah, we kinda don't want anyone to see Appa..." Aang laughed nervously, and then fidgeted again, "and uhh, if we let you go, then you have to promise not to tell anyone about us..."

"Why?"

Sokka furrowed his brows, and stared at Zuko suspiciously, "What do you mean _why_?"

"Do I need to have a reason?" Zuko said tightly, trying not to snap at him. "I was just asking."

"Yeah, actually you do need a reason -"

Zuko glared at Sokka, and then turned pointedly back to Aang. "So, I guess it's got nothing to do with you guys attacking the Capital City..."

"Didn't I just say no questions!!" Sokka interrupted immediately.

"You asked me all those questions yesterday, but I can't ask you anything??"

"Yeah well, that's kinda on you for being a shady firenation prisoner and all," Sokka replied sharply, and raised one judgmental eyebrow, "I mean, let's be real, you don't exactly look _normal_ , you know?"

Zuko stared at him wide-eyed, and lost the last shred of will to control his temper anymore. 

"And what's THAT supposed to mean??" 

"Nothing, it doesn't mean anything!" Katara quickly reassured him, entirely unconvincingly, and hissed quietly to her brother, " _Sokka, what are you doing??_ "

" _What, as if you weren't thinking it too!_ " he hissed back at her.

Zuko bit his lip, and looked away - suddenly it made a lot more sense that the blind girl was the only one who didn't seem to outright hate him. 

Aang glanced nervously between them, looking like he was really starting to regret his earlier decision - and obviously, if he was going to listen to someone's opinion it wouldn't be Zuko's, so what did it matter anymore...

"So, you all just assume I'm some kind of unhinged criminal, even though I've done nothing to you!!" he finally snapped. "But I'm supposed to be okay with you guys clearly planning to attack more people in the Fire Nation!!"

"No, of course not!!" Aang protested, looking genuinely stricken. "Uhh - I mean, of course we don't think you're, uh, unhinged, or a criminal!! And we're definitely not attacking Fire Nation people, that's not what we're doing!!"

"Except you already told me you've done that!!"

Sokka groaned, and sighed heavily. "Look, why couldn't you just lie to us about not telling anyone, and we would've let you go, and then we'd _all_ have been happy - but no, you just had to make this difficult, huh?" 

"What are you guys doing over there??" Toph suddenly shouted to them. "If nothing happens in the next five minutes, I'm going to turn this whole beach into a mud pit and I'm going to dump you all in it!!"

Aang shared a pointed look with Katara and Sokka. 

"Okay, I think we should all calm down and take a little break. So, umm, Ling, could you just wait for a moment," Aang said to Zuko, and then there was that apologetic smile again. "We're just going to have a quick meeting first, but it won't take long! I'll come and fetch you soon, and then uh, we'll see what to do --"

Aang took Katara and Sokka by their arms, and started leading them towards the bison, with a very grouchy looking Toph following behind. The kids huddled together near their freshly washed bison, and Zuko glared at his captors, who seemed to be discussing - or planning something very intently. Sokka was waving his hand towards the forest and then crouched down next to the bison, where he seemed to draw something on the sand with his finger, like a map... 

Zuko frowned, and glanced over at the bag where Sokka had stored his scroll - and most likely the rest of his war plans.

At this point he didn't really care anymore what they were going to do to him, because whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than what had already happened - or what was going to happen if Azula caught him... But he _did_ care what they were planning against the Fire Nation, and he was starting to realize that their 'bad experiences' with firebenders probably included killing some of the soldiers and guards as they were making their way through the city to the Royal Palace. 

The ropes around his wrists silently and quickly burnt to a crisp -- and before the kids could notice anything, he pushed away Toph's paper wrap and reached over to the supplies to grab a hold of Sokka's green bag. He pulled the bag to where he was sitting, and glanced up nervously at the kids, but they were still engrossed in whatever they were doing. As long as he sat still maybe they wouldn't pay attention to him... 

Zuko opened the bag and saw that it was in fact full of scrolls and various other parchments - and from a quick glance, it seemed like most of them were maps, mainly of the Fire Nation, but some covered other land areas too. He also saw names and details of Fire Nation military bases and weaponry... And then there were several odd papers covered in inexplicable scribbles like something drawn by a toddler. 

He frowned at the weird collection of scrolls, and took out one parchment, about the sun and -

_the eclipse --_

It was an invasion plan against the Capital City, which must've been the one they carried out the day before - and it seemed like their goal had been assassinating the Fire Lord in the Royal Palace during the solar eclipse -- but they had failed, and only found Zuko instead...

Toph had said something along those lines the previous day, and she'd made it sound so accidental -- but it seemed like it was far from the only attack they had been planning. All of the scrolls must be actual plans to wage war against the Fire Nation, and the kids were going to use them not just to attack Fire Nation troops and military bases, but also entire towns and cities as well. And those four little kids couldn't plan and carry out such large-scale attacks by themselves, so they must be on their way to meet more of their allies - more enemies of the Fire Nation. No wonder they didn't want him to know where they were going...

Zuko gritted his teeth, fuming mad and feeling humiliated again. 

He stared down at the scrolls, and felt a long-buried cold fury resurface. Maybe he had no value to the Fire Nation anymore, but he would _never_ let a bunch of self-important children bring it burning down. 

He stood up and stepped back, and in a surge of rage that he hadn't been allowed to experience for so long, he set everything in front of him on fire -- 

\- the bag and the scrolls burned quickly and vanished to ashes in the blink of an eye, and all their other belongings were soon engulfed by flames, warped by scorching heat and blackened to charred remains...

While waiting for the inevitable shouting to begin, he stared at the raging flames and felt utterly relieved. At least he had done something to help the Fire Nation - maybe it wouldn't do much, but it might slow down the kids and their allies enough, so that the military could find them before they carried out any more attacks. There was nothing else he could do anyway.

The fire was comfortingly warm on his bare skin, and he closed his eyes to block out everything else, and just concentrated on feeling the little waves of blistering heat from the flames. All of his remaining energy seemed to drain away, and his knees hit the sand as he slumped down, finally hearing the horrified yells behind him - but they all blurred into background noise in his mind. 

A huge surge of water splashed over both Zuko and the fire, but it was too late. There was barely anything left for them to save. Then a chilling tentacle of ice wrapped around him like a rope, and his legs on the ground were suddenly encased by heavy lumps of rock.

They really shouldn't have bothered - he wouldn't be going anywhere, he didn’t think he could stand up anymore even if he wanted to.

He tried to cling on to the warmth from the last embers of the fire. But he didn't really care what was going to happen anymore - all he knew was that it'd be almost certainly far less painful than whatever waited for him at home.

* * *

Aang sighed heavily, looking at the sagged shoulders of the Fire Nation teenager, who was once again sitting tied up on the ground. 

He felt guilty about many things - and this was just one more addition to the list. He wasn’t going to backtrack on genuinely believing that the prisoner they saved did deserve to be helped - but there were already too many people that Aang needed to help, and too many voices demanding his attention - 

Loudly.

At the same time.

Sokka, predictably, was the loudest. “No, we're NOT going to take him with us!! I told you we should've left him on that island!! He just burned ALL OUR STUFF. ALL OF THEM!! And the maps and plans too, which we were supposed to take to the meeting tomorrow!! How are we going to replace all of that??” Sokka cried out, and pulled at his hair. “This is so bad, we should have NEVER trusted a firebender!!”

Aang grimaced - and on this very same day, Aang was supposed to meet his firebending teacher and soon become a firebender himself... 

“Yeah, I know you're right, Sokka, but still...” Aang trailed off, feeling dejected. 

"Ugh, we shouldn't have left him unguarded, not even for a second!!" Sokka was still ranting, "I'm sure he's very happy now that all we've got left are these stupid Fire Nation clothes!!" he grumbled, and then pointed accusingly at Momo. "Oh, and that bag of red-berries that Momo stole!!"

Momo clutched his stolen pouch possessively, and ran to hide behind Aang.

Aang looked sadly at the piles of ashes and burnt remains that had just a few moments ago still contained some of their oldest possessions - his air nomad clothes would need to be remade, but at least Katara and Sokka could get their water tribe clothes replaced by -- then suddenly a horrible thought occurred to him and he looked up at Katara -- 

She was wearing her red firenation dress, along with her _red_ necklace - _oh no..._

"Katara, your mother's necklace!! It wasn't -"

"No, I have it with me. I won't make the same mistake again," Katara said darkly, "I always carry it with me."

"Oh, thank the spirits," Aang sighed. He was relieved both for Katara's sake - and for Ling's sake because if he had destroyed Katara's necklace, the likelihood of him dying from sudden drowning would've increased drastically.

Aang glanced over at Ling, huddling on the ground under heavy lock and key, with his legs covered in stone and midriff encased in ice. But he made no move to protest or try to escape -- in fact, he did nothing at all, except occasionally shiver inside the icey wrap around him. Aang was pretty sure Ling could easily melt the ice away, if he wanted to, but for some reason he didn’t do that either.

"Okay, let's just tie him to a tree or something, so we don't have to deal with him anymore!!" Sokka concluded, sounding more tired than angry now. "No wait, he could burn down a tree - yeah, maybe it's better to tie him to a rock instead."

"And then what?" Katara frowned at him.

"Then we leave, and the rest will be his problem."

Katara crossed her arms, and sighed. "Listen, I know it's risky to take him with us, but I don’t think we can just leave him here, he could hurt someone out there - or even send someone after us, and we already have more than enough people doing that...”

Toph had been quiet so far, but she had a deep frown on her face and looked as troubled about all this as Aang was feeling. Earlier she had tried to argue in favor of taking Ling along with them, to strong opposition from Sokka and more hesitant disagreement from Katara and Aang. Still it had been three against one, and they'd decided against it - and of course Toph had been predictably unhappy about it.

But now it looked like she was going to get what she wanted after all - just probably not in the way she wanted it...

“Hey guys, remember that we're going to meet a lot of strong powerful people tonight," Toph said, looking very pensive. "We can hand over our prisoner to them.”

“That's a great point, Toph!” Aang agreed, feeling a bit more uplifted when he realized that there were still other people who could help Ling. Maybe he would turn out to be like the kids he had met in the school - repressed but salvageable. “They have a lot of experience with firebenders, so I bet they can figure out a good solution for this.”

“Fine, that's just fine,” Sokka flung his hands, and his face fell in resignation. “Let’s take the firebender, who just gleefully _destroyed_ ALL our things, and drag him along to our _secret_ allies, and their _secret_ location...”

Aang approached him, and reached out a comforting hand to his distressed friend. “I know you’re upset Sokka, we all are. We lost a lot of things that were important to us, and that we needed - but they were just things, and we can always find new ones." Aang smiled encouragingly at Sokka. "And besides, we don't need to have our plans and strategies on paper when we have _you!_ ”

Sokka scowled, but finally agreed. "Yeah, you’re right, but, UGH, I hate this! It was such a stupid idea to take him with us!”

“Well, after tonight he won’t be our problem anymore,” Katara said tightly.

“So, we’re all agreed?” Toph asked. 

“Yeah,” Aang said.

Aang turned back towards their - well, once again a prisoner, he supposed... Ling was still soaking wet, and looking utterly miserable. He stared at the ground, head drooping low and his dripping wet hair pooled in dark circles on the sand. Aang wondered if it was possible for firebenders to warm up enough to dry themselves, and kind of wanted to ask about that, but highly doubted Ling would give him an answer - to probably anything anymore... He'd have to remember to ask that from General Iroh then.

Aang sighed, he was getting much too tired considering that it was only afternoon. But he still felt like it was his responsibility to try to reach out and reason with the firebender - just maybe from a slight distance. 

“Uhh, well, we've decided that we’re taking you with us now, and we'll hand you over to our allies. But they're good people, and I'm sure they'll be able to help you,” Aang said, and added sincerely, "- and I truly hope they can."

Ling didn't lift his head, and or acknowledge his words in any way. Aang chewed on his lip worriedly and glanced over at his friends, who were all looking anxious and ready to leave.

He turned back to Ling, and sighed, “But while I think you deserve another chance, I also can’t risk the lives of my friends, or anyone else. And at the moment, we can’t trust you, so we'll have to tie you up again - and it'll probably be more uncomfortable this time...” Aang said, and then called out for Toph. 

Toph picked up a piece of metal from the charred remains, and bent it smoothly to the shape of cuffs, which she used to bind Ling's wrists tightly together again, and he showed no resistance to that either. She stepped back and nodded to Aang.

Katara melted the ice, and Toph dropped the rocks. Ling could stand up again, but he didn’t. The fact that he didn't seem to react to anything anymore didn't make Aang feel very hopeful. 

It was still important to him that Ling understood this, so Aang added in a gentler tone, “I just want you to know that I don’t think you’re bad, or evil. You’re probably very confused and think that we’re your enemies. But we’re not. I’m just not sure how to convince you of that --” 

Sokka was staring at the boy, arms crossed. He’d probably be angry and resentful for a long time.

“You’re lucky Aang is such a good patient guy, I’d have thrown your ass off to the sea already.”

Now, that _did_ get a reaction from Ling - and he turned sharply to glare at Sokka.

“THEN WHY DON'T YOU, HUH?? Wouldn’t it be easier to get rid of me right here and now?!” he snapped, and Aang didn’t miss the desperation underlining his words.

Aang quickly jumped in before Sokka could respond and further escalate things. “No, we’re not getting rid of anybody!!” he said firmly. “That isn’t how we do things! And the people we’re taking you to are reasonable too, they’re not going to do anything before hearing from you first.”

Ling didn't respond to that, but at least he didn't try to aggravate Sokka any further and turned away again.

Sokka still glared at Ling with a sour expression, but thankfully said nothing either. Aang glanced between the two of them wearily, but since they both remained quiet, he felt some of the tension ease up and sighed again.

He looked up at the sky, it was clear and bright, and they still had a few hours of sunlight left - if they left now they should be able to reach the campsite before nightfall. They had to be very careful where they were flying with Appa these days, so it seemed like the best option was to stick to Sokka's plan and walk through the forest to Meng-shu Valley.

Aang exchanged looks with Sokka, who nodded. He looked just about as tired as Aang felt, and they all probably really needed a very long nap.

"Yeah, okay, let's just go then," Sokka said. "It shouldn't take us more than a couple of hours to walk there - at least it didn't look that far on the map, so it should be easy to find if we just go straight towards north. And now that you don't have to go to Yajima first, maybe we'll even arrive on schedule."

"And even if we don't, finding a bunch of people in the dark is no problem for me," Toph grinned.

"Great! I'll just go get Appa, and you guys get ready -" Aang glanced at the bleak burned zone around him, "uhh, I mean, if there's still something you need to get ready with..."

Appa was still happily grazing on grass, and next to him his newly polished bronze-gold armor was gleaming in the sun, with Aang's glider leaning against it. Aang retrieved it with a big sigh of relief, it would've been way too much trouble to ask Teo's dad to make a new one again. Aang lifted up the saddle and lowered it on Appa's back, and then briefly patted the side of the bison's head that wasn't covered by armor. His freshly cleaned fur smelled faintly of salty seawater, which was a big improvement over the layer of sweat and grime he'd gathered over the last couple of days. 

"All fresh and ready to go, huh buddy?" Aang grinned up at him. Appa grunted unhappily when Aang took his reins, and started to lead him towards the forest. "Yeah, sorry, you're going to have to walk for a while. But at least you don't have to carry any passengers this time! Or well, anything else either --" 

Aang looked over to the others, who were waiting near the forest line and also ready to go - except for Ling, who was still sitting on the ground.

Yeah, this might be a problem...

Aang went over to Sokka, who immediately frowned at him. "Hey, just so you know, I'm NOT carrying anyone anymore, okay! I'm still waiting for the back massage you guys owe me from yesterday!!"

"What's that, Sokka? Did I hear someone say something about a massage..." Toph grinned fiendishly, and punched her fist to her palm.

Sokka floundered, suddenly looking horrified. "Ehm - did I say _a massage?_ I meant - _a spa_ , yep I definitely meant a nice hot spa!! Katara??"

"What do you want _me_ to do?"

"You're a waterbender! Spa's have water!!" 

"So? I can't heat water for you! I can give you a fun icey shower, though, if you want."

Aang was starting to get impatient himself. "Guys, once I learn firebending I can heat up water for you, _so we can all have a nice hot bath!!_ " he said, maybe a little too loudly. "But I'm _never_ going to be able to do that unless we get going!!" 

Aang looked at Sokka again, and nodded his head towards the slumped firebender. "You don't need to carry anyone, Sokka, let's just help him up."

Predictably Ling refused to move at first, so Aang and Sokka had to practically pull him up by his arms - and even then Aang had to hold on to him for a moment first, just to make sure that he could stand steadily for long enough.

Aang took a hold of Ling's sleeve and carefully started pulling him along to follow after them. At this point he seemed too exhausted to protest anymore - at least until they walked past the sandy beach and reached the forest floor, when Ling flinched visibly and stopped with a painful grimace.

Aang looked at his feet, and realized that of course - he still didn't have shoes...

“You know, you can sit on Appa’s saddle on the way, if you want?” Aang suggested, really hoping Ling would say yes, which would make the walk easier for everyone involved. "It would probably be much more comfortable for you..."

But apparently Ling never did anything the easy way.

" _I don't need your help,_ " Ling just replied tersely, shook away Aang's hand and walked away from him with a grim tenacity that might have been impressive if it wasn't so deeply worrying.

Aang looked at the others helplessly. Sokka made a whooshy motion with his hands that seemed to suggest that Aang should literally throw Ling up on Appa’s back, but Aang shook his head vehemently. Maybe Ling was their prisoner once again, but Aang had to give him some dignity of choice - and he was pretty sure that throwing their prisoner around like a rag doll would just make him feel worse - well, mentally at least. 

With no choice but to follow after their stubborn prisoner, Aang decided to let the others go ahead and walk last with Appa. At least that way he could block any possible surprise attacks coming from behind them. 

Sokka walked in the front with Katara, muttering something to her occasionally and sounding grumpy - thought that wasn't anything unusual. Toph was walking with Ling in the middle - she had been strangely quiet so far, and Aang wasn't sure what to make of that. Maybe she was feeling betrayed and disappointed in Ling, or maybe she was still thinking of some ways to help him... 

Aang glanced behind his shoulder, where he could still see the open sky above the sea - and then nervously back to the seemingly endless dark forest ahead.

Once they left the bright seaside, daylight started to gradually diminish under the deep shadows of the tall trees surrounding them - high above the ground their old and gnarly branches had grown together and woven such a dense canopy that it seemed like barely any sunlight was able to reach the ground. 

That just made Aang even more nervous - the forest would get dark well before nightfall, and they'd lost all their supplies. At least they had Toph to guide them, but it would be difficult to walk in the dark -

\-- except, there was a source of light walking right ahead of him, with slumped shoulders and slightly swaying on his feet... 

Hopefully they wouldn't have to resort to that, but Aang made a mental note of their emergency backup lantern, who granted didn't seem very bright and lively at the moment.

Afternoon started to fade away, and the little glimpses of sky Aang could still see between the treetops gradually turned into a deeper blue. Everyone was tired and tense, while still constantly keeping an eye out for possible ambushes. Since no one dared to talk anymore, the forest felt eerily quiet.

Aang looked up at the sudden rattling noises above them, and grinned when he saw that their potential ambushers seemed to be several squirrelbats jumping and gliding around the treetops. Momo jumped off from Katara's shoulder and smoothly flew after them through the leaf canopy - but whooshed back a few moments later and landed on top of Aang's head, while the pouch he was still clinging onto hit Aang straight in the face.

"Ughhh, Momo!!" Aang quickly confiscated the pouch from Momo, before he'd manage to escape again, and rubbed his bruised nose. "Umm, so is there any trouble ahead we should know about?" 

Momo chattered rapidly, but then chose to go tell his secrets to Appa instead - who grunted loudly in annoyance. The deep booming noise rumbled through the silent forest, and everyone looked startled.

_"Shhh Appa, we need to be quiet..."_ Aang quickly hushed him. 

He checked Momo's precious stolen pouch, which no longer had any red-berries and instead contained a copper coin, a few pointy pine cones and two very sharp seashells - for what nefarious purpose, Aang had no idea. 

Sokka yawned audibly in the front, while even Toph seemed to be slouchier than usual. But they seemed positively energetic compared to their prisoner walking in the middle, who was clearly in pain and reaching the limits of his exhaustion. He still didn't make a sound to indicate that there was anything wrong and it was hard to help someone who refused to be helped, but Aang couldn't just not do anything... 

Aang looked down at Momo's pouch, and decided that they should take a break. 

"Wait, you guys!"

"What now?" Sokka sighed, and turned tiredly.

"I was thinking that since we don't have anything else to eat, we could collect some chestnuts as snacks, right?" he said with a bright smile, and waved Momo's pouch at them.

"You want to collect some nuts," Sokka stared at him flatly. 

Aang gave a pleading look to Sokka, hoping he'd get the message and wouldn't start protesting.

"Yeah, look! There are plenty of chestnuts around here!" Aang said cheerfully, and picked up a few, showing them to the others like he'd just found some shiny gold coins. Then he turned slightly towards their barely conscious prisoner, "And while we do that, umm, Ling, why don't you sit down for a moment, this might take a while..."

* * *

Toph would have never admitted it to Aang, but - she kinda missed flying on Appa...

Normally she'd take walking over flying any day, but right now, there was just wayyyy too much tension going on around her, and from _everyone_ \- even _Appa_. It felt just as unpleasant as the noise soup of the sandy beach, but this time in solid form - and it was starting to irritate her.

There wasn't even anything that interesting going on in the forest to distract her - just very big trees, smaller big trees, and then very big trees again, and definitely not enough sturdy big rocks for her taste. There wasn't even a peep from possible enemies, who were usually lurking just about everywhere they went. 

Of course it figures that just when she _really_ wanted to throw some rocks at people, they actually _did_ manage to pick an actually secure location...

Apparently everyone had just silently agreed that Toph would be the one in charge of their prisoner -- so, she spent the whole time walking right next to Not-Ling, who unsurprisingly turned out to be a total pro at being gloomy, while the rest of their group were just amateurs at best - even a grumpy Sokka had nothing on him. 

But still, she didn't know why the others continued to be so paranoid about him. Yeah, maybe he'd gotten exponentially grouchier, but now he was even more unthreatening than before, and Toph didn't think it'd be necessary to try to 'handle' him in any way - even if he got any more bright spontaneous ideas.

For one, Toph was used to walking barefooted nearly everywhere and her skin had gotten tougher than komodo-rhino leather, but that was _really_ not the case with their prisoner. The forest floor was littered with pine needles, and Not-Ling kept flinching constantly as if going through the worst acupuncture session ever. He definitely wouldn't be running far anytime soon. 

Aang had of course noticed this too, and kept coming up with flimsy excuses for them to take breaks... But while they had been having fun sitting around and collecting nuts, it had gotten dark already - and Toph knew that because she heard Sokka trip again on a tree root and the following indecipherable swearwords.

"Oh, do you guys need more light?" Toph called out to the others, really laying down on the sarcasm this time. "Too bad we don't have a firebender here with us or anything, that'd be really handy, right?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Toph," Katara said, probably thinking she was being the level-headed and reasonable one again. "It's not _that_ dark yet, and I'm sure we'll arrive soon."

"Fine, whatever, you guys do what you want," Toph shrugged. "I don't care, I can see _just_ fine."

When Aang made them stop for the third time, he didn't even bother to come up with excuses anymore, and everyone just sat tiredly on the ground, sharing their one sad bag of chestnuts. Not-Ling, of course, was sitting away from the others, quietly sulking by himself. No one seemed to be very interested in talking to him, or approaching him in any way - but obviously Toph didn't have such qualms. 

Besides, she was tired and fed up, because NONE of these dumbasses around here seemed to be listening to her. 

So yeah, maybe it was a bad idea, but she walked over to Not-Ling - and stabbed the boy in the back with her finger. Not too hard, just enough for him _not_ to be able to pretend he didn’t feel that. 

Not-Ling tensed immediately, but didn’t turn around. Just made some kind of grunt that seemed to tell her to leave him alone.

Well, too bad, Toph wasn’t going to do that.

“Hey, while we're all enjoying yet another cheerful break here, I was thinking maybe you could entertain me by telling me why the hell did you do that totally idiotic thing earlier??” Toph made an effort to restrain her voice, but it was definitely clear enough that the others sitting nearby could hear her as well.

She waited through Not-Ling’s trademark silence, until he muttered irritably, “I have nothing to say to you. Leave me alone.”

Toph scowled. She wasn’t surprised at being brushed off, but it annoyed her and made her even more of a pain in the ass. Unfortunately for Not-Ling, she'd been annoyed all day and now she just wanted to vent... And she had to admit, she was kind of hurt, because she’d been rooting for him and trying to get her idiot friends to give him a chance - but then he’d just thrown away all her attempts to reach out for him.

She stomped over to his side, and now poked him enough for it to feel properly. “We could've helped you! We told you that, many times! _I told you that!!_ "

Now Not-Ling stood up and whirled around to face her, his seething dry voice hovering somewhere above her head. "You expect me to believe that?? I've been nothing but a prisoner to you!! And the _only_ reason I'm here is because your invasion plan failed and you just took me as some kind of consolation prize to your allies!!" 

"Well, he's got a point there..." Sokka muttered, extremely unhelpfully.

"I wasn't talking to you, Sokka!!"

"Toph, let's just go," Katara said tiredly. "You're just making yourself more upset if -"

"No, you two dumbasses wait for your turn!!" Toph snapped over her shoulder. "I'm not done with this one yet!!"

She tried to poke Not-Ling with her finger again, but missed when this time he stepped backwards away from her. She frowned in annoyance, and tilted up her head to face him, knowing that he was looking at her.

“Oh, so instead of, you know, TALKING TO US - about anything really, since we don’t actually know anything about you AT ALL - you decided to just go ahead and burn all our stuff, because that’s such a great solution to all your problems!! Why'd you do a dumb thing like that??”

“ _And why wouldn’t I??_ What’d you expect me to do?? Just sit around all day as your prisoner, do whatever you say and play nice with you, while you're planning attacks against _MY_ nation, and the people _I’M_ supposed to protect!!” - Toph frowned, that was a weirdly possessive way to address them -- " _WHY WOULDN’T I DO THAT??_ " Not-Ling didn't even bother restraining his voice anymore, and it sounded sharp and piercing in the quiet forest.

Toph wasn't going to get deterred so easily. She was actually really glad that Not-Ling was now yelling back at her, because she'd gotten all fired up and wanted to keep going.

“Because, you idiot, you just created _yourself_ more problems! _We’re_ going to be fine, this is a minor setback for us, because we’ve got other people. Other resources. What do _you_ have? From where I'm standing it seems like you've got NOTHING but us - and then you went and broke our trust. So now you don’t even have _that!!_ ”

Not-Ling had suddenly gone very still, and Toph could almost feel the warmth draining out of him. Now she felt kind of bad for saying all that out loud, because she knew she'd hit a sore point and it probably stung even more painfully when everyone else could hear it too. 

It really wasn't fun being completely alone in the world, with no friends or allies... But Toph could still be at least one of those things, and she really wanted Not-Ling to defend himself, to snap back at her angrily - because she could definitely yell back, she was _very_ good at that. 

More importantly, it would also show that he still had some fire left in him - no matter how miserable he appeared, there still seemed to be some kind of relentless inner fire that refused to go out.

But to her immense disappointment, Not-Ling didn't show any sign of that now.

After a tense silent moment, he finally managed out in a strained voice, “You’re right. I have nothing. So why should any of this matter.”

Toph frowned unhappily as she listened to his unsteady but determined steps moving further away from her, and probably for the first time in her life, she _really_ hated winning an argument.

A few awkward beats later the others started following after him, and unsurprisingly there was now even _more_ tension than before. Toph sighed, and resigned herself to never complaining about flying again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope there are still people interested in this fic, please let me know if you are! :) I cannot stress enough how rarely I write anything at all, so ALL of your feedback is really important to me!! <33
> 
> Sorry this chapter was quite long and heavy, but things have to get worse before they get better... So, I'm really looking forward to posting the next chapter, and I wish ~~life will stop sucking~~ I'll have enough time and energy to update it in a timely manner...
> 
> (Also please spare a moment of patience and understanding for a non-native English speaker trying to write whatever version of American English the characters speak lol, which means my anxious brain has to constantly check that words mean what I think they mean, so that I don't make any dumb mistakes, tho I probably have... Google Translate, I don’t trust you, but for now you are the only one who can help me defeat the father lord. :P)


	4. Reunions and revelations

***

_**4\. Reunions and revelations** _

***

The sky was night-dark already, and they had been walking for what Sokka could swear was literally a small eternity.

He was so tired and fed up with their endless journey that when Toph suddenly said _"Hey, there are people ahead!"_ Sokka could've kissed the ground under her feet. Yes, even if the people were murderous firebenders, and yes, even if the ground was full of sharp pointy pine needles...

"Are they people we'd want to meet?" Katara asked, and pulled out her water pouch like brandishing a sword.

"I don't know," Toph shrugged, "depends on whether you wanna meet your dad or not. You guys seemed kinda tense that one time."

"Dad!!" Sokka immediately yelled and ran ahead - probably not the best idea in a dark forest where he'd already tripped on something dubious five times, but his head was now buzzing with sudden energy and he didn't really care that he might run headfirst into a tree -- 

\- and then he did actually collide with a very tall solid obstacle, but it definitely wasn't a tree. 

" _Ufff,_ " Sokka jolted back and looked up to find Bato holding a torch and looking down at him, with an expression somewhere between concerned and amused. He seemed to have that expression weirdly often whenever Sokka ran into him (though usually not literally).

"Are you running away from, or towards something?"

"Uh, towards dad -- but good to see you too, Bato!" Sokka grinned sheepishly. "Toph said you guys would be here."

"Sokka!"

"Dad!" Sokka yelled again. But this time he didn't have to run anywhere when Hakoda already wrapped him in a warm familiar hug, and Sokka closed his eyes happily. Relief washed over him now that his family was all back together again, and he didn't feel that tired anymore, just pleasantly sleepy.

They looked up to see Katara hurrying towards them, and Hakoda immediately wrapped her in a big hug as well.

"I'm so glad to see you, dad," Katara looked up at Hakoda, smiling as a few tears ran down her cheeks. "I know we just saw yesterday, but --"

"We're in enemy territory and you can never be too careful," Hakoda finished for her, "But we're all here now, and we're all together - right now that's all that matters."

"None of us ever had any doubt about you kids. Best warriors the Southern Water Tribe has ever seen!!” Bato said, smiling proudly.

Katara nodded to him with a teary smile, and turned to hug Bato as well. Sokka greeted the three other water tribe warriors who had accompanied Hakoda and Bato to meet their allies at the camp. They were familiar faces he knew well, Ragnur and Uthav were some of the oldest warriors from Hakoda's crew, while Asla was one of the youngest. 

"Asla, great to see you here," Sokka grinned to the young steersman, whose five-year-old twin boys had gone through Sokka's vigorous war training in the South Pole. It was sad knowing that Asla and his family hadn't seen each other in years, and probably wouldn't any time soon either...

But Asla still greeted back him warmly. "We had a great battle yesterday, Sokka," he said with a smile, though Sokka would bet his smile would've looked a lot happier if they'd actually won the battle too... "We were very proud to fight by the Avatar's side, and luckily our ship's crew didn't suffer any losses, but some of the Earth Kingdom troops did..."

"Their sacrifices weren't for nothing," Uthav spoke up with the weather-beaten solemnity of a sailor. "The next battle we will win in their honor."

"Thank you," Sokka said sincerely, "we really couldn't have done it without you guys."

By that time the rest of his friends had also arrived. Aang and Toph were already familiar enough with Hakoda and Bato that they got warm hugs from them too. But everyone else greeted the others like long lost family too, even if they'd barely even seen each other before - fighting together in a war did make every meeting after a separation feel like it could be both the first and last time everyone was seeing each other...

Sokka didn't want to dwell on gloomy thoughts, though, he wanted to cherish every rare safe and happy moment he could get with his family.

“What's this?” Bato asked.

Sokka saw where he was looking and sighed. Speaking of gloomy...

"Yeah, umm, we had some trouble on the way, and had to take a prisoner with us," Sokka said, suddenly feeling very tired again. He turned back to Hakoda and Bato with a grimace. "He's a firebender, and the first chance he got he burned all our stuff."

“Damn, did any of you get hurt?"

"No, don't worry, Bato, we're all fine..."

Hakoda looked over at Ling with a frown, "Did he attack you when you got on the island? Was there anyone else there?"

"No actually, uhhh - we kinda found him, during the invasion, and took him with us -- " Sokka saw that his dad was still frowning, and he felt too tired to deal with this now, "- but it's kind of a long story, so I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Of course, I'm just glad you kids are all okay," Hakoda said with a reassuring smile.

"So, ummm, about the invasion," Sokka started hesitantly, "Aang told you why we retreated, right -?"

"He told us that the Palace City turned out to be empty, and there was no point in staying any longer and risking more of our troops -"

"Yeah, I'm really sorry, dad, we risked all those lives for nothing -" Sokka sighed.

"Every battle teaches you something new, and we survived this one," Hakoda said, "don't be too hard on yourself, son."

Sokka looked sadly up at Hakoda. "Yeah, but now all the other plans and maps got destroyed too, and the designs for Teo's dad. Not to mention all the rest - do you think we could borrow some stuff from the White Lotus members?"

"I'm sure our new allies will be glad to help you restock your lost supplies, and you can stop by the ship before you leave to see if there's anything else you need," Hakoda said, and then placed his hand on Sokka's shoulder with a smile, "As for our plans and strategies - all we need is your brilliant mind to succeed, I have full confidence in you, son."

Sokka flushed at the praise, and grinned widely. "Thanks dad, that means a lot."

Bato ruffled Sokka’s hair. “You’ve got a good kid with an even better brain, Hakoda. We’re all proud of him.”

“Hey, watch the wolftail!” Sokka said, still grinning uncontrollably. 

"Okay, kids, I think we should be going now," Hakoda reminded them. "Their campsite shouldn't be far from here."

"It's like less than a ten minute walk in that direction," Toph pointed to them, "I mean, just in case you guys somehow accidentally forgot to ask _me_ about it."

Bato laughed, "You're a most impressive young woman, Master Toph. I wonder what your friends would do without you."

"Oh, they would've perished and died already like a few dozen times," she said with a smirk. "I know, I kept count."

Aang looked at the firebender kid, who was sulking quietly behind them. He hadn't said a word to anyone since his argument with Toph. 

“Um, Chief Hakoda, what about our prisoner?" Aang asked nervously. "We were thinking that maybe we could hand him over to the White Lotus. They've probably got a lot more experience with, uhh, this kind of thing, and you know, with firebenders...”

They looked over at the prisoner, but there wasn't much to see since Ling was still keeping his head down, and refused to look at anyone. Hakoda frowned again, and assessed him thoughtfully. 

“Yes, you're right, you should let the White Lotus members deal with this," Hakoda said to Aang. "None of us would expect you to manage prisoners, and you kids have enough to worry about as it is.”

"Yeah, that's probably the wisest..." Aang sighed.

Hakoda gestured at his crewmen, "Asla, Ragnur, would you mind making sure the prisoner will be taken securely to the camp?"

The two water tribe warriors went over to Ling, who finally looked up and stepped back from them in alarm - and well, Sokka couldn't blame him for finding them intimidating. Ragnur was a tall guy - though nowhere near as tall as Bato, but then again _who was_ \- and both of them were muscular enough that Sokka had no doubt they had handled plenty of firebenders three times the size of Ling. 

"Calm down, kid," Ragnur muttered softly, like he would to a panicked wolf-otter, "Nothing's gonna happen to you, just making sure you're heading the same way we are..."

Ling stared at them with wide eyes, but didn't resist - and likely couldn't have even if he wanted to - when they took hold of his arms, and started walking him along with them, behind the rest of the group. 

"Dad, have you met anyone from the White Lotus before?" Katara asked, walking alongside Sokka and Hakoda.

"No, not that I know of - but I've heard about them," Hakoda said, "However the information has always been very vague, they seem to like a certain air of mystery... But I did hear from pretty reliable sources that Master Pakku is also a member of the order."

"Master Pakku! He's here??" Katara exclaimed, eyes wide. Sokka wasn't sure whether she was feeling excited about that or not, but at least Sokka personally wasn't feeling very generous towards Pakku, and the condescending way he had treated Katara...

"No," Aang shook his head. "As far as I know, only some of the White Lotus members of the Fire Nation are going to be meeting with us here, before they leave to join the rest of the order in Ba Sing Se." 

"Yeah, that's what we agreed on the last time we saw them," Sokka confirmed. Although the situation had been hasty while they were hiding from Azula, but at least General Iroh had told them this would be the safest place for all of them to meet undetected, once he had gathered back together his fellow Lotus members from the Fire Nation.

Katara let out a tiny sigh of relief after hearing that, and Sokka shrugged one shoulder at her.

"Too bad," Sokka grinned, "I was still hoping for an epic rematch between you two."

"Oh, believe me, there's plenty of time for that after we win the war," Katara said with a smug smile.

"Yeah, when we win the war --" Aang grimaced, "I guess I'll just have to learn firebending _really_ fast, otherwise that won't happen..."

"Of course you will, Aang!" Sokka reassured him. "You just have to make some flames and, pufff, that's it! It's not like you're going to need _firebending_ to defeat the Fire Lord anyway when you can do all that way more important stuff already!"

Aang laughed nervously, "Uhh, right, that's it..." 

Toph was showing them the way to the camp, and sure enough, soon they saw flickering spots of light in the darkness, which turned out to be torches littered around a small tent village. There were at least a dozen tents on a clearing just outside the treeline, and behind it Sokka could see mountainous shadows hulking against the night sky - which must be the White Cliffs on the northern shore of the island. 

As the newcomers arrived to the camp, the Lotus members walking about stopped to watch them, and bowed respectfully - especially at the sight of Aang. It was pretty weird to see Fire Nation citizens who were happy to see the Avatar...

Aang left Appa just outside the tent village, guarded by both Momo and an elderly man with a hunched back, who rubbed his long beard thoughtfully and studied Appa in the dangerous sneeze-zone. Sokka couldn't help noticing that in fact most of the White Lotus members seemed to be elderly men, and he felt somewhat ashamed for being anxious about that. So, these people were going to head to Ba Sing Se, and battle both the Dai Li and the Fire Nation military forces in order to liberate the city after Azula had taken control over it -- 

Of course, Sokka knew they were all masters in their various fields of expertise, and they probably all did have extensive fighting experience, but - there weren't _that_ many of them. He _really_ hoped there would be A LOT more White Lotus members joining the battle in the Earth Kingdom, because a few dozen old men could hardly hold their own against an army of thousands...

Sokka was feeling kind of apprehensive as they got closer towards the center of the tent village, but then he spotted a familiar figure talking to someone in the large open space in the middle of the tents - and immediately squeaked in a way that made both his dad and Bato raise their eyebrows at him.

"Something wrong, Sokka?" Hakoda asked.

Sokka pulled at his dad's sleeve, torn between excited and mortified. 

"Dad, that's my swordmaster!!" Sokka exclaimed, barely able to contain his voice from falling into - extremely mild - hysterics. "Master Piandao!! He's the one who helped me make my space sword!!"

"Your - oh right, the space sword," Hakoda said flatly, and didn't sound like he had really grasped the awesomeness of the meteorite sword _at all_. "Um, what was that again?"

Sokka looked at him in utter exasperation. "Dad, don't you remember?? It's the sword I made out of a meteorite, which fell down and there was fire _everywhere_ and Aang, Katara and Toph had to do their bending-magic to put it out, and all I could do was sit there and watch, which was so unfair, because you know, _why couldn't I fight an epic space rock too,_ but then I went to Master Piandao and he accepted me as his student, and then after I trained with him, he wanted me to make my own sword, and then I remembered the meteorite and we pushed it all the way to Master Piandao's castle, and we melted it and turned it into this cool space sword, and Master Piandao said he'd never seen anything like it, and then he told me I was a great swordmaster!! How could you forget that??"

"I thought space sword was just a metaphor," Bato muttered.

" _It's not a metaphor!!_ It's right here!!" Sokka protested immediately, and tapped the sword handle on his belt. He frowned up at Bato, deeply irritated, "How would that even _work??_ "

But Sokka didn't have time to correct Bato's completely wrong conclusions, when someone was already calling his name -

"Sokka! Avatar Aang!" Master Piandao smiled at them warmly. "Good to see you again! We've been expecting you for the better part of the evening. I hope you didn't encounter any problems on your journey?"

"Oh, just some minor stuff, but we handled it," Aang chuckled uncomfortably.

Sokka bowed to Master Piandao, barely resisting the urge to hug him - but then thought, _oh why not,_ and went for it.

Master Piandao patted him on the back awkwardly. 

“I’m glad to see you too, Sokka, you’ve gotten far," Piandao said indulgently. Sokka retained at least some composure while he introduced his fellow Water Tribe members to Master Piandao in a shaky voice, and he was pretty sure he managed to maintain his grinning within serious Professional Warrior levels when Master Piandao bowed respectfully to his dad.

"On behalf of the Order of the White Lotus I welcome you all to our campsite," Master Piandao said, and eyed the younger travelers, "I'm probably not wrong to assume that you might also be very interested to know there will be dinner later prepared by Master Hong, and you are of course all welcome to attend it. If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask any of our Order members for help."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Master Piandao," Aang said, wearing his professional Avatar-smile too, "We'll be glad to join you for dinner, and I'm really grateful that the Order of the White Lotus has agreed to help me reach my final goal. I hope that together we can finally put an end to this war."

"We all hope so, Avatar Aang," Piandao said. "I will go and tell General Iroh that you have all arrived, and perhaps then you can tell us about how the battle at the Capital City went yesterday." Master Piandao excused himself with a slight bow, and walked across the open clearing to one of the largest tents by the side. 

Sokka grimaced uncomfortably, he really wasn't looking forward to recounting his failed invasion plan again, and to Master Piandao of all people... 

Hakoda turned to Sokka and the others. "So kids, I take it you do not have any supplies left after the fire?" Sokka shook his head, and Hakoda nodded towards Bato and Uthav. "In that case, while you're meeting with the General, we'll ask around if the Lotus members can borrow you some supplies and a tent for the night." 

"Thanks, dad," Katara said with a smile, "We're going to need some sleeping mats or blankets for the tent, and a lantern or torches and -"

"- and food, please!" Sokka piped in.

"Seconding that!" Toph said.

Katara stared at them, "Isn't the dinner enough for you?"

"Hey, I might need a midnight snack!" Sokka said, "And what if we miss breakfast, huh? Have you seen what firebenders call 'morning'??"

"Yeah, okay, point taken."

"Well, it seems like I'm going to have to make a list soon..." Hakoda smiled. "We can have dinner together with you kids and General Iroh after your meeting, but our crew will be returning to the ship for the night. Asla and Ragnur are going to be guarding the prisoner until the Lotus members find a secure place to keep him in, so you kids don't need to worry about it anymore."

"Okay thanks, dad, see you soon!" Sokka said with profound relief, since things were finally starting to get back on track after the disaster the day had been so far. 

Hakoda, Bato and Uthav left to greet some of the White Lotus members loitering curiously around the clearing. Sokka glanced behind where they came from, and frowned. He still couldn't see Asla and Ragnur, but surely they could handle Ling if something happened, maybe he'd just stopped walking again.

Aang bounced on his heels restlessly next to him.

"Why are you so nervous, Aang?" Sokka asked. "I mean, you've already met General Iroh - and not just that, but you saved his life! I bet he's more than happy that you're here, so there's nothing to worry about."

" _We_ saved his life, Sokka," Aang reminded him, "But yeah, you're right, it just feels so official this time - like I failed my exam and got sent to the principal's office again..." Aang grimaced nervously.

"Yeah, but we totally nailed the principal meeting last time too! So, you've got nothing to worry about!"

"I did make an impression, didn't I..." Aang said pensively. "Though, I'd probably feel better if you were wearing a beard this time too, Sokka -"

They watched as another elderly man walked past them thoughtfully stroking his long impressive beard, took a double-take when he saw Aang, and bowed reverently before continuing on with his beard pondering.

Sokka raised his eyebrow, "Yeah okay, I see your point, Aang..."

Sokka looked behind them again, and sighed with relief when he saw that Asla and Ragnur had finally managed to drag their prisoner to the campsite. Sokka waved at them to come and join them, might as well get everything over and done with at the same time, so they could just forget _all_ about this shitty day and have a nice relaxing dinner later with dad and the others.

* * *

Zuko stared dully at the ground as the two tribesmen were dragging him along with them, really not understanding why any of this was necessary. It's not like he had a choice in where to go anyway. And it's not like he could escape without notice, or do anything at all really...

He'd been mostly numb with pain for a good while now, though since he had stopped paying much attention to anything, he had no idea how long they'd actually been walking. Unfortunately the blissful numbness did not extend to his legs, and at this point he was desperately hoping that one of these water tribe savages would be merciful and just knock him unconscious already.

But of course with his luck they couldn't even do _that_...

The rest of the group had gotten far ahead already, and Zuko couldn't keep up with their pace anymore - but even if he couldn't see them, he could still hear their voices disrupting the otherwise quiet forest. The children continued to talk excitedly with the older water tribe men, one of whom was apparently Katara and Sokka's father. They were all obviously close family, and the sight had made something ache so painfully in his chest that he really didn't want to look at them for long, and felt relieved once they disappeared from view.

If nothing else, at least he could lean his weight on the tribesmen dragging him, so he could just close his eyes for a while, and maybe -- 

\- he wasn't sure if he had nodded off or lost his balance, but Zuko startled when suddenly the tribesmen were pulling him back up on his feet from the ground, and his head was spinning with dizziness from the abrupt movement. 

"Hey kid, you still with us?" the tall tribesman asked again. "Can you walk?"

The tribesmen were talking about something over his head, but their voices blurred together and he couldn't really concentrate on what they were saying -

"- here, if you go ahead -"

"There's no point - they're probably waiting --"

"Okay - let's go, we're almost there," one of them said in a louder voice, though Zuko had no idea which one was talking anymore. 

Apparently he still had to keep on walking somewhere, and he was really looking forward to all of this being over quickly, one way or another. But he had to admit that he wasn't entirely unhappy about the current situation - in fact it was a huge improvement from his previous one... For a long time his worst fear had been being forgotten and slowly starving to death in a prison deep underground, so whatever was going to happen now was definitely preferable to _that_. 

And he'd seen the sunrise again too, which he never thought he would just a couple of days ago. Everyone else had still been asleep, and it'd been peaceful, warm, and bright and there was a wide open sea all around him -- looking back, that really would've been a good last memory. But no, he was still here. It was so frustrating that the whole world had already accepted that he was dead and gone, but he still couldn't... 

And now, he'd just become a prisoner _again_ \- which really seemed like a joke at this point, too bad Azula wasn't there to appreciate it.

The tribesmen were slowing down, and Zuko desperately hoped they'd finally reached wherever they'd been going. He looked up just enough to see what was facing him - but that didn't really clear up anything at all. The tribesmen stood out with their traditional blues and fur linings - even in the heat of summer which seemed ridiculous - but the people in the tent village they'd arrived to looked equally foreign with their bizarre white and indigo costumes that Zuko had never seen before.

And he could swear he heard someone mention the Avatar too - which couldn't be right, maybe they were just using the name of the Avatar as a symbol of war against the Fire Nation...

But whoever they were, he realized with a sinking feeling that he'd just gone from complete isolation to be completely surrounded by enemies - and whatever they were going to do to him, he would be too weak to resist in any way.

Zuko resigned himself back to blearily staring at the ground, while the tribesmen continued to walk him forward. Apparently the kids were there too, because he could hear their voices again - high and loud and still irritatingly cheerful among the lower ones that sounded weirdly familiar too, but he really didn't care anymore and just closed his eyes again. It probably wouldn't matter even if he fell asleep, because the tribesmen would still just keep dragging him on anyway...

But the kids were too annoyingly noisy to ignore completely, and now there were other people talking with them as well --

\- which was when he heard Aang's bright voice very distinctly say,

“- and I’m honored that you've accepted me as your student, General Iroh."

Zuko’s world stopped right there in that second, and he quickly opened his eyes, blinking rapidly at the dark ground. There was no way... Feeling dazed, he looked up just in time to see through a hazy vision how Aang bowed to a familiar figure he thought he would never see again. Then he had to blink his eyes several more times to clear out the blurriness, and confirm he wasn't just imagining it.

“Oh no, dear boy, the honor is all mine," a pleasant elderly voice greeted Aang. “It is the greatest honor for any bender to have the opportunity to teach the Avatar himself.”

Zuko stared in utter shock as Uncle Iroh smiled warmly and returned the respectful bow to Aang --

_Uncle..._

How was Uncle Iroh _here_ \- with the - the kids --

Wait - _the - the Avatar??_

Zuko’s head was aching and getting more disoriented by the second, and there were _so many_ things wrong about all of this that he couldn't even begin to comprehend any of it. He felt too dizzy to stand anymore and desperately wanted to just sit down on the ground, but the tribesmen continued to keep him forcefully upright with a tight grip on both of his arms.

How could the Avatar even be alive _\-- after all these years??_

And how could Uncle Iroh be helping these - these enemies - and why --

\- why had his Uncle never tried to help _him_. _His own family._ Zuko hadn’t even seen his uncle since that fateful war meeting -- No one had come for him. Had Uncle Iroh even cared that he was gone?

Then Zuko realized with another disoriented jolt that Uncle Iroh wasn't the only familiar person there. The other voice he had vaguely recognized belonged to Master Piandao, who was standing next to Uncle Iroh - and like Iroh, he was also wearing that strange indigo-patterned costume. Zuko hadn't seen Master Piandao in many many years either, but apparently during that time both Uncle Iroh and Master Piandao had changed sides... 

So, they were both traitors --

\- and maybe they wouldn't be pleased to see Zuko at all... it would be even worse to be taken as a prisoner by people _he knew_ , _again_...

But Zuko was left alone in his shock, because the tribesmen kept him in their firm hold on the sidelines, and no one even looked in his direction. Apparently he was still considered to be just a ragged prisoner, and not noteworthy in any way. 

He could only look on as Uncle Iroh, Master Piandao and the kids were all talking casually, and smiling - like they were old friends, like they'd known each other for a long time...

His headache just kept getting worse. 

"I heard the invasion yesterday did not quite go as planned, but I'm very glad to see you children are all safe now," Uncle Iroh was saying, and how could he sound more worried about _the kids_ \- the invaders - rather than _the invasion_ of the Capital City??

"Yeah, it didn't really go according to our plan," Katara sighed. "The whole Palace City had been abandoned and the Fire Lord wasn’t in the Royal Palace at all. Somehow they must’ve found out that we were planning on confronting the Fire Lord during the solar eclipse...”

“I bet it was Azula,” Sokka said darkly. "Zhao wouldn't have been smart enough to figure that out."

“Hmmm, of course if Princess Azula was the one to discover your invasion plan, they would have taken great measures to evacuate the Royal Family and other nobility of the Palace City,” Iroh said thoughtfully. “For this purpose, there have been constructed many tunnels and secure vaults deep beneath the volcano."

“Of course, _the volcano!!_ ” Sokka exclaimed, and slapped his forehead. “Why didn't we check that instead!!”

“Sokka, there was no time to check them both,” Katara reminded. “We chose to inspect the palace, and even if we had gone to the volcano, they already knew we were coming. The element of surprise was gone, we might have lost - and badly. I'm glad we chose to get everyone out on time.”

“You made the right choice, Katara," Master Piandao said. "You survived and learned from this battle, and now when you face your opponents again, you are stronger and more experienced for it."

“Yeah, that's what my dad said too..." Sokka sighed, "but it doesn't really feel like we got anything out of it."

“Hey, don't forget, at least we found someone in the Royal Palace!" Toph reminded them. "It wasn't useless to check it out!"

“Ugh, no offense Toph, but he’s been like _the opposite_ of useful so far,” Sokka grumbled. 

Iroh looked at them curiously, and Aang squirmed a little under his scrutiny. "Uhh, there was some kind of a prisoner, I guess, in the Palace and we kinda took him along..."

“There was a prisoner in the Royal Palace?” Iroh asked, looking genuinely surprised.

“Yeahh...” Aang grimaced. “It was pretty weird, we're not really sure why he was the only one there... But then there was, uhh, an incident with him on the way, and we were kind of hoping maybe you guys would be able to take him over from us?" he looked between Iroh and Piandao apologetically. "If it's not too much trouble for you, of course!" 

Master Piandao glanced at Iroh, who was frowning deeply and didn't reply.

"Of course, it is no trouble at all," Master Piandao reassured them. "You can leave the prisoner with us, and we'll see what we can do..."

"Oh, okay, thank you!" Aang said with a wide relieved smile.

While Iroh continued to look distracted, Master Piandao inquired, "What kind of incident? Is the prisoner a firebender?"

"Yeah --" Sokka said with a heavy sigh and waved at the tribesmen holding Zuko to come closer - but he didn't want to move. He'd been listening to their conversation with a growing sense of horror and shame - realizing that Uncle Iroh and Master Piandao must consider him to be an enemy now too - and that the people who Zuko had looked up to and respected so much as a child would see him in a disgraceful state like this... 

_"No, no..."_

He tried to pull back and dig his heels in the ground, but no matter how much he resisted, he didn't have enough strength to stop the tribesmen forcefully dragging him forward.

Everything around Zuko seemed to freeze as he was brought into plain view, and he quickly lowered his head - desperately wanting to keep his eyes closed, so he wouldn't have to see the looks on their faces. He was painfully aware of how pathetic and horrible he must look - maybe even unrecognizable. 

_Hopefully_ unrecognizable... 

But as the tribesmen continued to hold him still and he couldn't possibly hide anymore, Zuko had to reluctantly lift up his head and meet the eyes of those ghostly people from his past - and he realized there was no way out of this --

Master Piandao stared at him with a deep frown, like trying to piece together a puzzle - while Uncle Iroh seemed to recognize him immediately. 

Iroh's eyes widened, and his mouth fell slightly open - 

"How --"

Zuko grimaced, he felt trapped and had no idea what to do - every part of him was now shaking, and his breath seemed to have caught painfully somewhere in his chest --

But Uncle Iroh only continued to stare at Zuko, eyes seemingly frozen on him -

Aang glanced nervously between the two of them, and stepped forward. “Umm, General Iroh, is something wrong?”

Everything was wrong, so wrong... but there was nothing he could do anymore. Zuko had already seen the recognition in his uncle's eyes, and before Iroh could ask him anything, Zuko called out to him in a voice that ended up pitifully small -

_“Uncle --”_

\- which was a mistake, because everyone was now looking at Zuko. But he could only keep his gaze locked on Uncle Iroh, deeply afraid of what he was going to find in his eyes... _disgust - pity - anger --?_

“How is this possible?” Uncle Iroh finally said, voice incredulous and eyes still wide. He carefully stepped forward to get a better look at Zuko. “Prince Zuko? Is that really you?”

_“What??”_ Sokka exclaimed somewhere.

Aang hovered uncertainly between them, "Uhhh, okay, what's going on?"

Zuko ignored the kids, and tried to think of some kind of an explanation to his uncle, but to his utter misery all he could do was weakly confirm, “It’s me, uncle - I’m so sorry --”

Uncle Iroh stared back at him, expression as stony and serious as Zuko had ever seen him, but his eyes looked watery and stricken.

"Prince Zuko?" Master Piandao looked at Iroh, and his frown only deepened. "But - the funeral --"

“Wait, hold up," Aang said, looking profoundly confused. "General Iroh and Master Piandao, you _both_ know him?”

"Yes," Uncle Iroh said, now in a firmer tone. "Avatar Aang, would you please release him."

Aang looked over at Sokka, Katara and Toph, who were all in various stages of confusion. 

"Sokka -" Aang said.

Sokka sighed heavily, and threw his hands in the air. "Okay, I have absolutely NO IDEA what's going on anymore, but sure, let's release the prisoner or prince whoever --" 

“Um, yeah, please do as General Iroh says,” Aang said to the tribesmen, and suddenly Zuko couldn't lean on the steady hands that had been holding him upright anymore, and he dropped on his knees to the ground with a painful thud. He kept his face down and hid his grimace. He was pretty sure his brain had stopped functioning already at least five minutes ago, and he could barely form a single coherent thought anymore.

Uncle Iroh walked forward, and crouched down in front of Zuko, who still kept his eyes firmly on the ground. Iroh gently tucked away a strand of hair hanging in front of Zuko’s face, and looked at him closer. 

“Wait!” Toph suddenly said, and came next to them. After a quick touch of her hands the metal cuffs around Zuko’s wrists dropped to the ground with a loud clank.

His hands were finally free after hours of numb stillness, but they were now shaking noticeably from exhaustion. Zuko nervously rubbed the sleeves over his wrists, where he could feel the constant stinging of broken skin underneath.

“Is he really your nephew?” Toph asked.

Uncle Iroh took Zuko’s shaking and nervously fidgeting hands in his, and held them steadily. “Yes, he is.” Iroh waited until Zuko finally looked up at him, and smiled. “Oh dear boy... I don’t know how this is possible, but I could not be more grateful to see the impossible happen.” 

“I’m so - so sorry, uncle, I- I couldn’t --” his trembling voice couldn't even complete a sentence anymore, and he closed his eyes but the tears didn’t stop falling.

“Please don’t apologize, Prince Zuko. I don’t know what has happened to you, but we will figure it out together. What matters most is that you're safe with us now.” 

Uncle Iroh's gentle voice was the most comforting sound Zuko had heard in years, and it was just too much for him. He took a deep shaky breath which ended up in an embarrassingly loud sob, and he pulled back his hands to cover his face in shame. Then Zuko felt a warm arm around his shoulders, and a soothing palm over his hair, and buried his face against Uncle Iroh's shoulder, so he wouldn’t have to see everyone witnessing his breakdown. More tears, and soon his whole body was shaking with sobs, which to his humiliation were not quiet at all anymore. 

He could vaguely hear Uncle Iroh murmur something to the others who were still standing nearby, but Zuko tried not to pay any attention to them. He wanted to block out the entire world, and just hide against his uncle's familiar presence as long as he could...

By the time Zuko felt too exhausted to cry anymore, it had gotten strangely quiet around him. He lifted up his head reluctantly and pulled slightly apart from Uncle Iroh's embrace, afraid of what he was going to have to face - but the center square was now completely empty. 

The others - the children and Master Piandao, the tribesmen - were gone. Zuko could hear some light murmurs and voices from some of the tents nearby, but for all appearances Zuko and his uncle were alone in the camp. He must have been crying for longer than he thought, and he blinked his puffy eyes feeling embarrassed and disoriented.

Uncle Iroh smiled at him kindly. “Come, Prince Zuko, you must be tired and hungry. I have some wonderful calming tea to help you sleep, and perhaps we could find something for you to eat as well.” Uncle's voice was tinged with concern, and Zuko suddenly realized that he hadn't eaten anything all day, not since that one meal the day before.

Uncle Iroh helped Zuko back to his feet, and led him to a large tent across the center square, where Iroh guided Zuko to sit down on a frayed but comfortable old futon. 

He started to feel sleepy in the familiarly dim soft light of the lanterns - Uncle Iroh was talking to Zuko in quiet, calming tones, but even as Iroh was about to set a tea cup in front of Zuko on the low wooden table, he could no longer resist leaning his head down on the futon, and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

Well, it should be obvious by now that their plans never went as expected. 

Katara glanced at the others as they arrived to their assigned sleeping quarters. Aang was looking pensive - well, even more pensive than usual. Sokka was looking pensive, confused and annoyed, which was - pretty much the usual.

Toph, in the meanwhile, was looking weirdly self-satisfied, and even after spending months with her Katara still hadn't figured out whether she should find that alarming or not...

Katara had been expecting a happy evening and feeling relieved - about a lot of things. About being reunited with their dad and other Water Tribe members, and meeting Aang’s firebending master so that his long overdue training would finally get started.

But now - the mood had definitely taken a turn for the weird --

It seemed like everyone had collectively decided to give some privacy to General Iroh and Prince Zuko, and the whole camp had been oddly quiet as Master Piandao led them over to the tent that the White Lotus members had graciously loaned and prepared for them. Master Piandao told them he would sent someone to bring dinner for them, and after he had extracted an over-excited Sokka from his side, he had excused himself for the night. Asla and Ragnur had also awkwardly bid them goodnight, and went to look for Hakoda and the others.

By now, everyone in the White Lotus campsite seemed to have heard about what had occurred during their meeting with General Iroh. Though no one spoke about it directly to their group, just vaguely mentioned that General Iroh had an urgent obligation that he needed to attend to and would not be able to join the dinner together with the Avatar. 

But they still didn't hold back on the dinner preparations at all -

Katara had to admit she was impressed by the generosity of their new hosts - a courteously smiling man, who was apparently Master Hong himself, brought them bowls of fried rice, chili soup and a large assortment of dumplings, and then revealed himself as a firebender by lighting them a campfire. He seemed to be one of those White Lotus members that had rejected the Fire Nation military in favor of the finer arts in life - like cooking mushroom dumplings. He even pulled out a ceramic teapot from somewhere, and told that their exquisite tea collection was courtesy of General Iroh.

"Wow, now THIS is a proper meal," Sokka said, eyeing all their offerings after their gracious new chef had left, "Do you think they have an age-limit in the Order of the White Lotus? Because I'm really tempted to join now, but I haven't seen any Lotus-guy who'd be either under like 70-years-old, or didn't have an AMAZING beard."

"Yeah, but you can do great beards, Sokka! Maybe you should go for it!" Aang said with an encouraging grin.

"Hmmm, you're right, Aang, that's a good point," Sokka said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I haven't done a gray beard yet, but maybe it's time to branch out a little..." 

"As long as I don't have to play your gray-haired _wife_ , you can do whatever you want, Sokka..." Katara said rolling her eyes, already resigned to the fact that they'd have to budget Sokka's fake-beard collection to their next shopping trip.

After a long and stressful day, they were finally able to sit down and eat, though despite the luxurious dishes no one seemed to be particularly hungry. Katara picked at her food and while it was delicious, she felt too distracted to really enjoy it. Even Sokka had kept his food refills within reasonable limits. 

After dinner Katara poured everyone a cup of tea, and it only took a moment for the ensuing silence to break. Typically it was Sokka who broke it -

"Okay, so, I guess we should talk about our suddenly royal former prisoner," Sokka looked over the others with a frown, "does anyone care to explain who’s Prince Zuko, or was I supposed to know that already?”

"Well, I don't know either, but if he's General Iroh's nephew and Iroh has only one brother - you draw your own conclusions, Sokka," Toph said with a shrug. Unlike everyone else, she seemed to be oddly in a much better mood than before.

"Okay okay, I'm getting that, but - " Sokka frowned even harder, “I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that WE JUST GAVE A FREE RIDE ON OUR MAGICAL BISON TO _THE FIRE LORD’S SON??_ ”

Aang suddenly turned to look at Sokka, with wide eyes and dawning horror - “Sokka, you know what that also means, HE’S _AZULA’S BROTHER!!_ ”

Sokka and Aang made a horrified gasp in unison. 

“Aaargh, that’s even WORSE!!” Sokka cried out, pulling at his hair.

Katara rolled her eyes, and smiled when she saw Toph quietly mouth 'idiots' at them. 

“Wow, I guess we’re lucky he only burned our stuff, Azula probably would’ve burned down this entire island!!” Sokka groaned.

“Hey guys, aren’t you forgetting something?” Toph butted in, looking annoyed. “Since Prince Zuko was a prisoner in the Royal Palace, doesn’t that mean he’s _an enemy_ of the Fire Lord?? So, he's probably Azula's enemy too. And you know, the enemies of our enemies are our friends - or allies at least!”

"Yeah, I don't really understand," Katara said, frowning, "why would the Fire Lord keep his own son as a prisoner..." 

"I guess it's _pretty_ safe to say they probably didn't get along very well," Sokka shrugged, "And you know, Fire Nation royals seem like the types who'd just throw someone in prison for spilling their tea, so maybe he didn't do his homework and got grounded for life or something."

"Throwing _the Fire Lord's son_ in prison and pretending he's dead seems pretty extreme even for royalty drama," Toph huffed. "I'm just saying, sounds kinda suspicious since Prince Zuko could be the next in line to become the Fire Lord, right?"

They all looked at Toph, sudden realization dawning - 

"Oh wow, I didn't even think about that..." Aang said, eyes wide. 

"Yeah well, I don't think you guys get how important this kind of stuff is for rich people."

"So, are you saying we might've just broken the future Fire Lord out of prison -" Sokka said, and leaned his head on his hand, groaning, "Okay, I'm definitely way too tired to wrap my head around _that_..."

"Uhh, yeah, that's..." Katara trailed off, staring down at her tea cup absently. She'd been hoping that things would clear up a little after they had met their new allies. But instead everything had just gotten more confusing, since it seemed like General Iroh would have to deal with Prince Zuko's situation first, which was... yeah, difficult would be an understatement.

Aang, Sokka and Toph had actually talked to General Iroh before, but Katara had only seen him briefly once. She'd been surprised then, because he had seemed far too good-humored to match her image of typical haughty royalty, but she had to admit General Iroh did undeniably have an air of poise and authority, and it wasn't difficult to imagine him taking the Fire Lord's throne - definitely a better option than the current one, in any case. 

And well, Princess Azula certainly matched her mental image of what Fire Nation royalty was like, a little too perfectly... 

But she had no idea what to think about Prince Zuko, she'd barely had any idea what to think about their erratic and irritable prisoner Ling - and that was _before_ they even knew he could be one step away from becoming arguably the most powerful person in the world... The prisoner they had found in the Royal Palace had been anything but royal, and had seemed so ragged and sullen that it was easy to think he'd just always been like that, and somehow older too. But now - well, not only was it hard to imagine how the Fire Nation Prince could be in such a degraded condition, but also it was extremely unsettling to think that someone had ruthlessly locked up that boy crying in General Iroh's arms - and not just anyone but most likely that boy's father himself...

Katara sighed heavily, and decided to set aside her tea that was starting to get colder. Too much had already happened in one day, and everyone seemed to be too tired to sit around and drink tea anymore anyway. 

Sokka finally yawned widely, breaking their silence, "Okay, you guys can stay here and talk about the wacky royal family if you want, but I'm going to call it a night. And no one wake me up before I've slept AT LEAST twelve hours!"

"Have we missed the dinner already?" someone suddenly asked, and Katara looked up to see her dad and Bato making their way to the campfire.

"Dad!!" Sokka exclaimed, his yawning immediately forgotten.

"Dad, Bato!" Katara smiled at them happily. "I thought you'd already returned to the ship?"

"Asla, Ragnur and Uthav already went back, it's best if we have as many men there keeping guard as possible," Hakoda said, and took a seat next to Sokka. "And we're planning on going back for the night too, but we thought we'd join you kids for dinner before that. We don't have a lot of opportunities for that these days..."

"And also, we saw what that man was cooking earlier," Bato smirked, "looked so delicious, we couldn't pass up on a chance to try some proper Fire Nation cuisine."

"Oh yeah, trust me, it's delicious!" Sokka grinned, and placed the bowl of dumplings back to heat up over the fire, while Katara prepared some more tea for them.

As they settled in to eat, Hakoda looked over at the kids curiously.

"So, Asla and Ragnur told me before leaving that you kids had a pretty interesting meeting with General Iroh --"

"Uhh, yeah, you probably heard that the prisoner we took from the Fire Palace turned out to be Prince Zuko, who is apparently the Fire Lord's son, but I didn't even know he _had_ a son, "Aang said with his brows furrowed, "I mean, Princess Azula was plenty enough for us already..." 

They all looked to Hakoda and Bato, who should have gathered more knowledge of the Fire Nation by now than they did. Hakoda looked thoughtful, he took a sip of his tea, and looked up at their little group huddled around the fire. 

“Well, I can't claim to know much more than that either... Fire Nation politics and their Royal Family have always been - complicated, and fraught with bloody disputes from within, as far as I know," Hakoda said. "Truthfully, the only thing I heard about Prince Zuko was that he was dead - and well, that was all we needed to know...”

Bato nodded grimly. "Especially because it happened only a couple of years after General Iroh's son had died in battle. I know this must sound bad to you kids," Bato said, and hesitated a little, "but at the time it was good news to our troops. Two potential heirs for the Fire Lord's throne lost within a few years - it was a significant loss for the enemy, and a moral boost for us."

"Oh..." Katara shifted uneasily, and a glance in Aang's direction confirmed that he was feeling similarly troubled. She did understand the sentiment behind what Bato was saying, but it was still disturbing to think that their own troops had considered the death of a child as something to be celebrated...

She couldn't help sounding a bit accusing, when she asked, "Uhh - did you know how old he was?"

"No, I don't think there was any talk of that," Hakoda said with a frown. "But we knew that he was younger than Prince Lu Ten had been when he died.

"Right," Katara said uncomfortably. She hoped no one would mention anything about this to General Iroh - or to Prince Zuko.

Hakoda was watching Katara closely. "Katara, I want you to know that our main concern then was to ensure the safety and well-being of our children - and to be able to provide a secure and stable future for the Southern Water Tribe. That is still true today," Hakoda said. "You kids have already had to face many dangerous situations that I wish I could have protected you from...”

"Dad, I know you're concerned and we appreciate it, but we're fine," Katara said. "We've been traveling with Aang for over half a year now and we've always made it through, one way or another."

“But you still have all of the Fire Nation military looking for you, which is not something to be taken lightly," Bato reminded. "And this new situation certainly doesn't help - you kids took a high profile prisoner from the Royal Palace. I doubt the Fire Nation will spare any expenses in looking for him, and it probably won't take them long to figure out who took him, so there will be even more people after you...”

Sokka groaned, "Ughh, if Azula and jerkface Zhao decided to get along for once and joined their forces, then yeah, we're in big trouble..."

"Wait, but if Prince Zuko is supposed to be dead, then - who would they be looking for?" Aang asked with a frown.

They were all silent for a moment.

"Well, they're certainly going to be looking for _someone_ ," Hakoda finally said.

"Then _WE_ should make sure they don't find _someone_ ," Toph said firmly.

Sokka frowned at her, "What do you mean _we_? We're not going to be his royal bodyguards, he's going to stay with the White Lotus members, not _us._ In case you forgot, we've kind of got other more important obligations, and Bato is right, we really don't need any unnecessary trouble right now." 

Toph crossed her arms in a way that was alarmingly similar to her Earth Rumble champion days. "Well, wouldn't it be useful to have an ally with us who actually _knows_ the Fire Lord, _and_ the place where he lives, huh, oh great strategist Sokka??" 

“Yeah, except we've already been to the place where the Fire Lord lives, _and_ we already know someone like that too - General Iroh, who is actually helping us _willingly_ ," Sokka said, starting to sound irritated.

"Well, maybe Prince Zuko would be helping us willingly too if we gave him a chance!"

"Why are you so insistent on taking him with us? He hasn't exactly given us a reason to trust him yet," Sokka asked dubiously. "And how do we know he's not going to be more like his sister than his uncle -"

Toph stood up and if she hadn’t been across the campfire from Sokka, she probably would’ve poked him out off his seat. But as it was, she just angrily poked her finger in Sokka's direction. “Because I KNOW people, okay?? Haven’t you realized that already?? I’m pretty sure by now I can tell the difference between someone who’s being a horrible asshole on purpose, oh say _like Zhao_ \- and someone who’s acting like a standoffish jerk because they’re scared out of their mind!!"

"Well, okay, I get why he'd be scared, it's pretty clear he's been through some horrible stuff. I'm not saying he hasn't," Sokka said impatiently. "But we're fighting a war here, and it's not really a great time to be babysitting traumatized firebenders - especially not ones who deal with stress by burning everything in sight!" 

"Listen, you little -"

Hakoda cut in sharply, "Children, you've had a very long day and you're understandably all very tired. Perhaps you should rest for tonight and, if necessary, continue this discussion tomorrow." He then continued in a softer tone that was clearly aimed mostly in Toph's direction, "Obviously the best person to deal with Prince Zuko's situation is General Iroh, so I would advice you to leave this matter to him for now. I'm sure you can talk about this with General Iroh later if you want."

"Thank you," Katara smiled gratefully at her dad. "You're right, dad, I think we're all too tired for this now."

Toph scowled at them, and huffed, “Ugh, whatever, I'm going to bed."

She went to the tent, fumbled searching for the tent flap, and then slammed it behind her as much you could slam a flappy piece of fabric. Katara sighed, it was starting to look like Toph wasn't going to stop her sulking anytime soon. 

Hakoda and Bato looked at each other, then at the kids.

"Uhh, sorry about that," Katara said, "she's been like this all day..."

"That's alright, Katara, this is an unexpectedly complicated situation and I'm sure it's been very stressful for you to deal with, especially after the difficult battle we faced yesterday," Hakoda said, looking concerned. "Give yourself some time to recover. For now, it's best to just focus on what we came here to do, and let the rest unfold at its own speed."

Katara nodded, exhausted and strongly feeling like Sokka's twelve hour nap was the only thing she could focus on right now. 

"But I think we should follow your friend's lead," Hakoda smiled at them, "and all of us go get some sleep now."

" _Yes, thank you,_ that's THE BEST idea I've heard all day," Sokka said, yawning again.

Everyone was starting to settle in for the night, and Hakoda and Bato bid goodnight to the kids as they returned back to their ship. As the rest went inside the tent and laid out their newly acquired sleeping mats, Aang glanced at Katara and then pointedly at Toph, already lying on the mat with her back to them. 

Katara sighed and turned to her. “Toph, are you okay?" she asked carefully, "I understand that you're upset about Li - uh, I mean Prince Zuko, and I -”

“No I'm not okay, because you guys don’t trust me!” Toph interrupted, and sat up on her sleeping mat. “And by the way, I knew he was lying about his name earlier too, but I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to upset _him_. He was scared of us!”

“I’m not doubting you, Toph, and I do feel bad about that,” Katara said, frustrated, “it did look like he'd barely been out of that prison -”

“Well, that’s because he hadn’t been!!” Toph snapped. “He told me he was imprisoned in that room for three years, and they didn't let him out at all, not even once!!"

“What?” 

“He told me that he was imprisoned in that room for three years, and they never let him out!!“ Toph repeated impatiently like Katara hadn’t been paying attention and was failing Toph's class miserably.

“When did Prince Zuko tell you that?” Aang stared at her wide-eyed. "He barely even told us his name, and even that wasn’t true!”

“When I was talking to him like a normal human being and not treating him like an enemy soldier, that’s when!!” Toph snapped.

Katara looked helplessly at Aang and Sokka.

"Don't look at me, I'm done for today, so GOODNIGHT," Sokka just pulled his blanket further up to cover him, "and I meant it, _twelve hours_..."

Aang worried his lip, and glanced at Toph. “I don't know, I trust you Toph, but I think Sokka is right, we already have too many other things to worry about. I haven’t even started firebending training yet! But I’m sure the White Lotus members will take good care of Prince Zuko, and you can still visit him if you want -”

Toph burrowed aggressively under her blanket. “Then why’d you even ask me if you weren’t going to listen to me anyway!!”

Katara sat down on her sleeping mat heavily and sighed, utterly tired. 

She was usually the one fighting with Toph and knew just how stubborn she could be. And they often argued because _Toph_ was always complaining that Katara wasted too much time helping out strangers, when they had more important things to do, so it was weird that now Toph was the one so insistent on helping one this time. And it's not like they had just dragged along everyone they -

Katara blinked, and turned to look at the lump of blanket next to her - a lonely Toph-shaped lump whose home they had barged into and very much dragged along...

_Oh..._

* * *

Zuko woke up from a restless sleep, and was immediately alarmed after opening his eyes.

It wasn't dark anymore, which was unnerving because it used to be dark whenever he woke up. But the tent roof above him was lit up by bright daylight - and now he could actually tell that it was early morning. There was also a blanket over him, which smelled like jasmine tea...

Once again he was in a place he didn’t recognize, and the memory of how he got there was fuzzy at best. Starting to feel panicked, he sat up quickly to look around for something familiar to jog his memory when his eyes landed on the other person in the tent.

Uncle Iroh smiled at him calmly, while stirring something over a small open fire. Zuko met his uncle's eyes, and must have looked shaken, because Iroh said reassuringly -

“Take a deep breath, Prince Zuko, there’s nothing here for you to worry about. I was just preparing some breakfast for us while you were resting.”

Zuko wasn’t very good at breathing calmly. He bit his lip and closed his eyes trying, and then completely failing to feel any less anxious.

After some futile breathing exercises, he opened his eyes and looked again at Uncle Iroh, who seemed to not have changed much since the last time Zuko had seen him. That gave him a weird sort of whiplash - while his life had been both disrupted to its core and forcefully stagnated, everyone else had just carried on with their normal lives...

At least Iroh seemed to have switched to wearing something that looked more like a theater costume than a military uniform - but then again Zuko never really knew much about what his uncle did while not in the Royal Palace. Uncle Iroh had always been coming and going between the Capital City and wherever else he had traveled to, and Zuko hadn’t even seen him very often in the years -- _before._ Of course, everyone had known that Iroh and Ozai did not get along well, and that probably had something to do with Iroh's infrequent presence at the Palace... But despite that, Uncle Iroh had always been kind to Zuko and Azula, and his visits were still some of the safest memories Zuko had from his childhood. 

So, he should be fine here. He had nothing to worry about anymore -- but he still couldn't stop nervously following Iroh's every movement, feeling like he needed to be ready for - _something_ to happen, at any moment...

But so far, only breakfast seemed to be happening.

He watched cautiously as Uncle Iroh laid out the dishes on a low wooden table at the center of the tent. Iroh set down a soup and a noodle bowl on Zuko's side of the table, and then cracked a komodo-chicken egg on top of the noodles, slightly frying it by hovering his hand over it for a moment. Lastly he sprinkled some spring onions on top, and Zuko couldn’t remember any food ever smelling or looking so good - and that must’ve been obvious because Iroh laughed at him indulgently.

“There’s nothing quite like good food that puts your mind at ease, is there,” Uncle Iroh said with a soft smile that never seemed to fully fade from his features. “Please come, let’s eat - I think you must be quite hungry by now.”

Zuko inched closer to the table, and picked up his chopsticks. 

They ate in silence - Zuko was nervously expecting Iroh to start asking him questions at any moment, but uncle seemed perfectly content to just eat without interruption. After they had finished their bowls, Iroh offered Zuko another portion, but Zuko shook his head. He was anxious to get this over with.

“Don’t you want to ask me anything?” he said, almost pleading for his uncle to do something, _anything_. Iroh’s lack of action was unnerving him. 

“I have many questions, Prince Zuko, but we have plenty of time to talk once you are feeling better. Don’t rush yourself too much, and too early.”

Well, Zuko was definitely feeling better - than before. But he should be feeling better than he _was_. He was away from his home, and safe now, wasn’t he? 

Frustrated with himself, he looked around the spacious tent, which seemed to be large enough to hold a meeting for several people -- and tried to think of a topic he could talk about that wasn’t related to one of the many painful questions that Iroh was doubtlessly going to interrogate him about.

“Umm - are the people - the - the kids - who brought me, are they still here?”

Uncle Iroh looked at him patiently, as if preparing to explain something to a small child, and Zuko averted his eyes in shame - feeling like he was already failing his uncle's expectations.

“Yes, they’re still here. We are in fact supposed to have a meeting today with their group and the White Lotus members.”

“A meeting - you’re - are you on their side??” Zuko asked desperately. Everything was all wrong... “Uncle, don’t you know they’re planning to attack Fire Nation military bases, and -”

“I know, Prince Zuko,” Uncle Iroh interrupted, his tone was still gentle, but he looked noticeably more tired now. “If what I’m guessing is correct, you’ve been kept in the dark for a long time, literally it seems -- so I do not fault you for feeling anxious about this. This is not something you could’ve known about. But yes, I am helping them, because it is the right thing to do. Not just for those children, but for our nation too, Zuko. I hope I can help you to understand this eventually.”

Things made less and less sense all the time. Uncle Iroh was now helping the Water Tribe to attack Fire Nation soldiers? And he thought this action not just reasonable, _but defendable??_

And not just that but - 

“Yesterday, did you, did you say that you were teaching the - the Avatar? That can’t be right - the Avatar is dead!! Everyone knows that!!”

“No, he is very much alive. But the situation is very confusing - when I first heard about it, I was taken by surprise too...”

“That young airbender --”

“Yes. He’s a very compassionate and skillful young man, I’m sure once given the chance you would get along well.”

Zuko stared at his uncle. “You expect me to become friends with the Avatar,” he said flatly. Why not at this point. Why not chuck everything he’d ever known to be correct _and right_ into a volcano, and expect him to jump after.

“I don’t expect you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, Prince Zuko, I merely hope that you’ll give this boy a chance and talk to him - not as enemies from opposing nations, but as two young firebenders learning from each other.”

Zuko closed his eyes in pain, he didn’t even know where to start to wrap his mind around all this...

After their breakfast, he watched silently for a while as Uncle Iroh made them some tea, which was at least one thing that would probably never change, even if everything else did. Iroh placed a porcelain cup in front of him with little wisps of steam softly swirling above it, and there was that scent of jasmines again. Zuko didn't feel like drinking tea at all - but he didn't want to offend his uncle either, and took a careful sip from the cup while nervously waiting for Iroh to break the silence.

Uncle Iroh was sitting across the table from him, and watching Zuko with evident worry - he hadn't even touched his own tea cup yet. 

“Perhaps we should talk about something else for now... Is there something you would like to tell me? Something you feel ready to share.”

Zuko stared at the ground, and fidgeted with his hands nervously. He’d already been asked that by Katara - and he couldn’t - _didn’t want to_ answer then. He wasn’t sure he could, even if he wanted to... He had so much to ask from Uncle Iroh, but he didn’t trust his voice to say any of his biggest fears out loud. 

But there was something he had to know --

“Yesterday - you - you said you thought I was dead...” he started, voice strained.

“Yes, until yesterday I had thought you dead three years ago,” Iroh said gravely, “Only now I understand that I’ve been told a terrible lie all these years.”

“My - umm, my dad told that to you --”

“Yes,” Uncle Iroh sighed deeply, eyes closed in pain. “Your father made an official announcement about your untimely death, on the same day as the Agni Kai in which you were intended to participate. It was a great shock then, and one that I could not forgive your father - I blamed him for your death, even if he hadn’t caused it directly.”

“Why?”

“I take it you don’t know what he gave as a reason for your death?”

Zuko froze again, he didn’t want to hear this, and he _desperately_ wanted to know --

“What - what did he say -”

Uncle Iroh regarded him sadly for a moment, and sighed - the weary sigh of an old man. “As you had not shown up for the Agni Kai and it had been rescinded, I felt troubled and went to confront my brother. It was then that Ozai told me that - that you had been found by the servants, having taken your own life --” 

Zuko couldn’t move, he could barely even blink. All this time -- his father had told everyone not just that Zuko was dead, but that he'd killed himself... And Ozai had done that even _before_ he came to see Zuko _that very first night -_ that was -

\-- everything was too much, and his head was swirling again, but Uncle Iroh continued on, as if everything wasn't already spiraling out of Zuko's comprehension -

“The Fire Lord made an official announcement, and we held a private funeral. Despite my doubts about the reasons behind your death, I still could not bring myself to think that my brother would lie about his own son’s death...” Iroh said in a voice laden with guilt and regret. “But as I considered that his mistreatment of you had been unforgivable, I chose to leave the Palace and Capital City soon after. I have not returned since then.” 

As Iroh finished his whole body seemed to sink into itself a little, as if physically carrying the weight of the words.

“But then - I --” Zuko’s head was aching and his eyes were getting watery again. “Did everyone think that I -- because I couldn't - I couldn't --"

"Zuko..."

"Why did you - why --" he couldn't continue, and just stared pleadingly at his uncle. Iroh sighed heavily, and closed his eyes for a moment, before looking at Zuko again with deeply sorrowful eyes.

"If you're asking why I thought you did it -" Iroh said, voice fraught. "I always thought there was a likely possibility that my brother was not telling the whole truth about what had happened to you... But if he had told the truth, then no, I did not think that it would have had anything to do with the Agni Kai, or lack of courage or honor - that would have never been the case with you. No -- I thought whatever the reason had been, it would have had everything to do with the way your father had treated you..."

Zuko took a breath that turned into a shaky sob -- Azula had been right about everything... their father really had been so ashamed of his son that he wanted to erase Zuko's whole existence from the world.

He couldn't look at Iroh's concerned expression anymore. Zuko drew up his knees and hid his face against them instead, sobbing hopelessly, "Why - why would he do that - why does he hate me so much..." 

Uncle Iroh moved next to him, and placed a comforting arm around his shoulders. “No reason would be enough of a justification for what he has done. It was an incredibly cruel thing to do, and you deserved none of it.”

He let Zuko calm down for a moment, before softly asking, “So for all these years, your father kept you imprisoned in the Palace?”

Zuko nodded against his knees, not trusting his voice.

“Did Princess Azula also know that you were there?”

Another nod. 

“Did anyone else know?”

He couldn’t answer.

Uncle Iroh sighed deeply, and held on to Zuko until he had stopped shaking. Zuko wiped his eyes with his sleeve, while Iroh stood up and started to gather some of his things.

“I’m afraid I will have to leave for the meeting now. As I have been given the honor of the role of Grand Lotus in our order, there are many things I need to oversee," Iroh glanced at Zuko's confused look. "And of course, I will have to tell you about the Order of the White Lotus at some point - I believe there are things that might be useful for you to know about..."

A meeting -- with the Avatar, Zuko assumed, feeling completely numb again. He stared at the tent opening, and desperately hoped Uncle Iroh wouldn't force him to go out there.

Uncle Iroh smiled kindly down at Zuko, "But those stories will have to wait for a later time. As for today, later at noon I will come back to make lunch for us. You can stay here and rest for as long as you need -- or if you wish, you can come outside to meet the others. You are free to decide for yourself.”

Zuko was too ashamed to face his uncle when he muttered, “I’ll stay here.” 

“Of course, a good rest will help with many ailments,” Uncle Iroh just replied gently, “I’ll make sure no one disturbs you.”

After Uncle Iroh had left, Zuko returned to the futon he had been sleeping on earlier, and curled up on it again. Now he was finally free to move and go as he pleased. 

But all he wanted to do was huddle away in a tent corner, and never face the outside world again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone still reading this, there will be happier times too... And of course thank you for any and all comments, they really mean a lot to me!! <333 
> 
> *Katara and Sokka have two dads lol (Bato is definitely the weird one)   
>  **tfw you can't get a hug in real life, so you have to write one (or more)... :'))   
>  ***there is actually a reason why Zuko's punishment in this story was imprisonment and not Agni Kai... though, of course the _real_ reason is that Ozai is just a really really shitty person


	5. Fine, it's a deal

***

_**5\. Fine, it’s a deal** _

***

Aang leaned back and tilted his head up to look at the blue midday sky - it seemed like the Fire Nation always had really great weather for flying, and he felt intense envy at the lazy hazy clouds just casually floating by, while he was stuck on the ground. 

Especially when he was stuck on the ground, and just _sitting_. 

And it wasn't even purposeful meditative sitting, but the restless itching-to-do- _something_ kind of sitting, which made him frustrated and all around twitchy - as if he needed more proof he would've been _so_ bad at actually studying in a Fire Nation school...

After a while of sky-gazing, Aang had the great idea of conjuring up tiny whirlwinds with his finger and sending them wildly spinning and flying around. He grinned widely at Katara when one of them hit an unsuspecting White Lotus member in the back - who then had to reluctantly restrain his annoyed glare when he saw who the culprit was. 

Katara just rolled her eyes and smiled, but continued sitting patiently and holding her teacup completely un-twitchily.

Meanwhile Sokka was still standing next to Chief Hakoda, talking animatedly with some other Water Tribe warriors, and swiftly alternating between his concentrated thinking face and grinning happily at his dad --

\- and Toph was unsurprisingly absent, but of course it was easy for someone who was not _the Avatar_ to just casually sneak off...

Aang sighed miserably. 

So many people were relying on him, while his confidence drizzled away with every awed bow he received.

They were talking about gathering allies, and coordinated attacks and complicated plans - but all Aang could think about was that if he failed to master all four elements, all of their efforts would be for nothing. And he was certain that this time retreating wouldn't be an option anymore...

"Thinking of escaping, Avatar Aang?"

The woman who had been smiling at Aang and Katara earlier scooted a little closer to sit next to them on the bamboo mat. Aang immediately perked up at the welcome interruption, and grinned sheepishly at her.

"Uh, nope, just thinking about flying - but not going anywhere, I promise!" 

She raised a doubtful eyebrow at him, and then squinted up at the bright sky. "Oh, I wouldn't blame you for that, if I could fly you'd never get me back on the ground!"

"I know!!" Aang agreed happily. "That's what I keep saying!!"

Like most of the people in the Order of the White Lotus, she seemed to be a retiree as well. There were only three women in the White Lotus, one of whom was apparently a firebender - but then it turned out to be the elderly woman who had declared that she mainly just signed up for the fierce Pai Sho competitions. The man next to her had nodded enthusiastically in agreement, and Katara had whispered to Aang that she had heard he was the woman's husband. He was neither a firebender or a master swordsman, but apparently he was _very good_ at preparing ginseng tea. 

After that Katara had also remarked to Aang - half-sarcastically and half-maybe-seriously - that if she applied for the Order, she'd probably have a better chance of getting in if she was wearing Sokka's beard as a disguise. Upon hearing that, the woman sitting closest to them had given Katara an amused smile with an approving nod - seemingly half-jokingly, half-seriously as well.

As it turned out, she wasn't a firebender either - but she confessed to them that she had in fact been in the Fire Nation military, as a lieutenant in a communications tower in central Shuhon Island. 

"Oh, I'm sure my days as a military officer were long before any of you children were even born -"

"- but I was born over a hundred years ago!!" Aang corrected quickly, just out of habit.

The woman blinked at him, and Aang grinned when he saw the realization dawn on her. "Oh, that's right. So you were, of course! I apologize for being so disrespectful of my elders -"

"Don't worry about it," Aang smiled, and waved his hand casually, "I look a lot younger than I'm old!"

The retired lieutenant smiled back, apparently delighted by that. Maybe she was happy to find out she wasn't actually _that_ old compared to Aang, but she did look very youthful for her age too. Her long hair hadn't turned fully gray yet, and she had gathered it up in a very impressive bun - with an intricately weaved violet ribbon and some artfully placed white little flower pins. She had clearly made an effort to accessorize with her White Lotus robes.

"You're very kind, Avatar Aang. But as I was saying, I have been retired for a long while, and so my information regarding the military is sadly out of date," she lamented, but then smiled and leaned slightly forward - Aang noticed that like many people in the Fire Nation she also had a golden tinge in her otherwise dark eyes, "- but I'm sure you'll agree that it's always useful to have eyes and ears, a little here and there - and to know the fastest way to reach them..."

Katara perked up at that too, "Oh, I'd be very interested to hear more about that, uh, lieutenant -? "

"Dusong Ming. People used to call me Lieutenant Dusong, but now they just call me a Lady instead," the lieutenant smiled slightly, seemingly amused about that.

"Pleased to meet you, Lady Dusong," Katara said warmly.

"Likewise, Master Katara."

Aang listened to them talking for a few minutes, but then nudged Katara with his elbow when he saw some of the White Lotus members get up and head back towards the tents.

"Katara, look, I think it's lunch time!" he whispered hurriedly to her, both him and his stomach painfully itching to get up already too.

Katara looked around, and frowned slightly. "Yeah, it's almost noon already, but I still haven't seen Toph anywhere..."

"Do you think she went to see Prince Zuko?"

"Yeah, I have a feeling she might have..."

"You were the ones who brought in Prince Zuko yesterday, weren't you?" Lady Dusong interrupted them politely - of course she must've known the answer to that already, but she was tapping her fingers against her arm and looking at them somewhat eagerly, as if she'd just been waiting for a chance to talk about it.

"Yeah, we did --" Aang replied carefully, and exchanged nervous looks with Katara, "uh, so do you know him as well, or -?"

Lady Dusong leaned even closer to them, and hushed down her voice a little conspiratorially - 

"Well, of course I know _of_ the members of the Royal Family, but I was not in a high enough position to know any of them personally - until General Iroh came to see me about two years ago... I remember it very clearly, because it was harvest time in autumn, and I had assumed him to be one of those stingy merchants from the town coming to buy my appleberry cakes - so of course, I tried to sell them to him with a very high price straight away," Lady Dusong chuckled to herself, "- well, clearly I was mistaken, but General Iroh did end up buying some of them at full price, and ate quite a few too..." 

Aang suddenly realized something, and nodded enthusiastically, "Oh, I remember when I was visiting my friend Kuzon his mum made us some appleberry pies too! " He grinned happily for still remembering that, "They look like red and shiny gemstones, right? Is that why they're so popular in the Fire Nation?"

"Yes, you are correct, and I still have those small glossy ones too! Although, I suppose they're not as popular anymore as they used to be... But I do have many many other plants as well - the locals often buy fire anise for their spices, and those funny little striped peppers to cook for their guests," Lady Dusong said, but then frowned, "However, I've been very concerned about the trees this year, the hare-raccoons are always gnawing at the roots and now there's no one to chase them away..."

Lady Dusong trailed off, looking a bit forlorn now. Like many other older people Aang had met, she also seemed very interested in talking about gardening, which was completely understandable - if Aang had a chance to grow lots of flowers and fruit trees somewhere he'd definitely want to tell everyone about them too.

"Ah well, anyway, I believe we were sitting in the garden tea house, when General Iroh told me that he had been deeply affected by the untimely passing of his nephew Prince Zuko -" Lady Dusong said, and sighed sadly, "and about all the guilt and regret that followed - it is a sad bitter truth that for too many of us it takes losing loved ones to finally learn from the mistakes of our past..."

Lady Dusong glanced over at General Iroh, who seemed to be discussing something with Chief Hakoda and Bato - and cleared her throat subtly, before turning back to Aang and Katara.

"Oh..." Katara said, worrying her lip for a moment, before carefully asking, "Uh, so then did you join the Order of the White Lotus because General Iroh came to see you?"

"No, actually, I have already been a member for many years... You see, I've held a deep disdain for Fire Lord Azulon for a long time - and then of course for Fire Lord Ozai, but unfortunately I also preferred not to involve myself in any sort of conflict. It is somewhat shameful to admit," Lady Dusong said with a rueful smile, "but I understand all too well why most of the nobility is reluctant to show any resistance to Fire Lord Ozai and his current leadership - after all, it is very easy to become complacent when you are wealthy and you don't have to venture out of your safe little corner..."

Katara nodded grimly, "Yes, we've seen plenty of people like that... but I'm glad you decided to eventually join us, Lady Dusong."

"I'm glad as well, though it took quite a lot of persuading for me to leave. But General Iroh seemed very convinced that the time to end Fire Lord Ozai's reign would come soon - and well, I thought I could do at least something useful to help make that happen." 

Lady Dusong smiled at Aang, "And then of course, the fateful sign of the right time was your miraculous resurgence, Avatar Aang."

Aang squirmed uncomfortably, "Uhh, I'm not feeling very miraculous at the moment - more like, kinda nauseous," he held his stomach which had started making weird noises again, "- and maybe a little constipated..."

"You have a great responsibility, it's natural to feel nervous about the pressures placed on you."

Katara frowned, the way she always did when someone mentioned 'Aang' and 'responsibilities' in the same sentence. "I'm pretty worried about all the pressures and expectations placed on Aang too..."

"I'm sure none of us wants your friend to carry this burden alone, Master Katara," Lady Dusong said emphatically, "you are not alone, we will all be there for you when the time comes -"

"Hey, who's up for lunch!" 

The three of them turned to see Sokka bouncing up to them with a wide grin, followed by a considerably less bouncy Chief Hakoda. 

"You don't even need to ask, Sokka!" Aang informed him immediately.

"Hey, dad," Katara smiled, "if you're all going for lunch, of course we'll join you."

"Well yeah, that's the plan, and I'm starving already!" Sokka exclaimed. "I can't believe they're making those amazing dumplings even for lunch!"

"Sokka, I'm sure we're all looking forward to that," Chief Hakoda interrupted him calmly, "- but I believe General Iroh wanted to talk to us first."

"Uh, yeah, of course..." Sokka grinned sheepishly at General Iroh, who walked up to them all, looking significantly more solemn compared to his usually good-humored mood. 

"Thank you, Chief Hakoda," General Iroh said. He smiled at Aang and Katara, and then inclined his head respectfully at seeing Lady Dusong with them, "if you don't mind sitting down with me for a moment more..."

"Sure, of course, General - uh, I mean Sifu General Iroh!" Aang agreed quickly.

General Iroh raised his eyebrow at Aang, but declined to comment on his new title. 

They all sat down, and waited for General Iroh to start - he was looking very grave, and it was obvious he was going to say something about Prince Zuko. So far he'd barely said a word about his suddenly not-dead nephew --

"I promised to my nephew that I would go to check up on him at noon -" General Iroh said, looking towards the tents with a concerned frown, "at this point, it is probably best not to leave him alone for too long..."

"Um, I apologize for interrupting, General Iroh -" Katara said nervously, "but actually I think our friend Toph may have gone to see your nephew, she's been really intent on talking to him..."

"Is that so?" General Iroh looked surprised, but then smiled, "Well, that is certainly positive news, and I'm very grateful to your young friend. I cannot express enough my gratitude to you all, for helping my nephew out of the terrible condition in which he was forced to live in. Had it not been for you, I would not have even known he was still alive.”

"Of course, we could have never abandoned someone wrongly imprisoned," Katara replied, "but actually without Toph we would have never found Prince Zuko in the first place, so really, I believe most of the credit should go to her..."

"Yeah, absolutely!" Aang was quick to agree. "But uhh - we're really sorry for all the misunderstandings and, well, uhm - for taking Prince Zuko as a prisoner again..." he grimaced a little when facing General Iroh, guilt suddenly weighing heavily on him again.

"I think that is perhaps something you can discuss with my nephew later," General Iroh said in a neutral tone, meeting Aang's gaze calmly.

Aang nodded nervously, and looked at Katara and Lady Dusong sitting next to him. Lady Dusong briefly laid her hand on his shoulder, and gave him a little reassuring smile.

"General Iroh, I'm sure Prince Zuko has already told you some things in private, and I will not inquire about those," Lady Dusong said diplomatically, "but I'm curious to know if you've learned of any reasons for what led to this - it seems Fire Lord Ozai went to quite a lot of trouble to hide that poor boy and fool everyone like that..."

"Yes, he did... but as it is, I do not know why my brother did what he did, and I would not assume to guess his reasons either," General Iroh said, looking deep in thought. "And while it is not my place to talk of things Prince Zuko is not ready to talk about himself, I do have concerns about his future that will inevitably affect how we proceed from now on --" 

General Iroh took a long heavy moment, before continuing -

"As you all know, the Fire Lord has already publicly condemned me as a traitor to the Fire Nation, and so we have assumed that Crown Princess Azula is considered to be the only legitimate heir for the throne - but obviously the situation has now changed. When Fire Lord Ozai dies, it is now entirely possible for Prince Zuko to take over the throne after his father. The ministers at the Capital and the Fire Sages will still prioritize Sozen's bloodline, so they are most likely willing to overlook other factors to maintain it... And for now, Prince Zuko has less strikes against him than I do - he was a child the last time he was seen in public, and people in the Fire Nation have yet to form an opinion on him."

Chief Hakoda cleared his throat, "With all due respect, General Iroh, I appreciate the difficulty of the situation, but is Prince Zuko in good enough health to take over such a demanding role? Considering the kind of ordeal he's been through, I would imagine the recovery would take a while as well..."

"Of course, I agree, he is not," General Iroh said, meeting Chief Hakoda's eyes with a grave look. "But he will not have to do it alone - others more experienced in politics would handle most of the governmental duties, and at least in the beginning the actual leadership responsibilities would be covered by others in the Palace - including myself, if possible. But all of that will be easier to accomplish, if Prince Zuko officially accepts the Fire Lord's throne before Princess Azula has the chance to do so... "

Sokka looked at him with a puzzled frown, "But then isn't that pretty much the same as the puppet king in Ba Sing Se -?"

"It sounds very crude when phrased like that," General Iroh sighed regretfully, "but I would imagine that in this case intent matters the most - which would be to ensure Prince Zuko is well enough to take on his role as the head of a nation."

"I assume that would still require not just appointing a new council, but an entire overhaul of the Palace staff," Chief Hakoda said, frowning thoughtfully much like Sokka, "if any of them cannot be trusted to support Prince Zuko as the Fire Lord."

General Iroh nodded, "Yes, you are right, but replacing everyone will impossible, because it goes beyond the ministers and councils at the Royal Palace. My brother would have made sure that there were none left in the entire Capital City who would have dared to publicly side with me over him - and I am certain the same will apply for Prince Zuko. We will need to proceed very carefully."

Aang glanced at Katara next to him, drumming her fingers on her knee restlessly, obviously feeling as uneasy about this whole thing as he did.

"And that brings me to the other concern that I have," General Iroh continued, looking even more grim, "Fire Lord Ozai, Princess Azula and the rest of the leadership will consider Prince Zuko to be a possible threat to their power. If it becomes public knowledge that Prince Zuko is alive, they will try to discredit him in the eyes of the Fire Nation people, in any way they can - so that if there ever comes a time when he might attempt to claim the throne, it could be easily declared that he is too unfit to be a leader. He would face strong public opposition from the start, and we cannot give them the opportunity to tarnish his image like that," General Iroh said firmly, and looked around at them all, "we have to ensure that the public doesn't find out that he's alive, before we are ready for the final attack and the Avatar is ready to confront the Fire Lord."

Aang felt that heavy weight fall on him again, and glanced at the others. He wasn't sure what all of that meant, but it seemed - bad. All kinds of bad. 

"Why do I feel like everything's going to get even more complicated..." Sokka sighed, looking longingly after Master Hong walking past with a full plate of fried snapping shrimps. 

"Doesn't it always..." Katara replied tiredly.

General Iroh looked at them thoughtfully for a moment, before asking, "If you don't mind postponing your lunch for a moment longer, I would like you children to tell me briefly how it is that you found Prince Zuko, and in what kind of circumstances?"

Aang, Katara and Sokka shared uncomfortable looks with each other, while the adults stared at them expectantly. 

Aang bit his lip nervously, the circumstances hadn't been great in any way, but they definitely could've handled the situation a lot better - not to mention that everyone already knew they had taken Prince Zuko as a prisoner again afterwards. He wondered if General Iroh was mad about that, but as Aang met the general's eyes, he didn't seem angry at all. Just very tired, and patiently waiting...

Aang took a deep breath and started, "Well, uhh, as you all know, I went to the Royal Palace to look for the Fire Lord, but the whole place was empty -- which I thought was really weird and my friends agreed, so we decided to go back and check again together, and then Toph heard something deep under the Palace --"

* * *

If everyone wanted to assume Toph would be in a bad mood when she woke up - well, she was just _fine_ with that.

She wasn't actually feeling _that_ cranky, but the others could assume all they wanted, since at least it meant that everyone had scattered out of her way like the scaredy little bughoppers they were, and no one had made much of an effort to stop her when she had decided to sulk off on her own after breakfast. 

Not that anyone had really noticed, since Sokka had been distracting everyone with his nervous energy and chattering non-stop during breakfast in his dad's direction - while everyone else nearby had just been unfortunate collateral ear-damage. Though, weirdly enough Katara hadn't nagged at Toph as much as she usually did in the mornings, but she'd also been using her _nicey-nicey_ tone of voice, which pretty much meant that Toph should be expecting a lecture heading her way later...

Toph really didn't need her friends fussing worriedly after her - if she had wanted to be babied by overbearing worrywarts she could've just gone back home to her parents. 

She loitered around the camp for a while, stole some food and went to share them with Appa and Momo, who always appreciated a bit of good ol' thievery. As she threw little slices of watermelon at Appa, and assumed he caught them from the munchy sounds, she scowled to herself unhappily and had to admit that she was a bit offended that no one - not even Sokka, who was usually the first to pay tribute to her greatness - had indicated that they actually _wanted_ her to join their war meeting, as if it was obvious she wouldn't have anything relevant to contribute anyway. 

So what if Toph much preferred some solid feet-first and head-on action instead of boring all-talk-no-fight planning sessions - that didn't mean that she couldn't offer some useful ideas. Like right now she was pretty damn sure she knew what their team _really_ needed -- 

\- and she was going to go and get it, even if no one had bothered to ask for her opinion.

Lucky for her, General Iroh had probably told everyone not to disturb Prince Zuko, and they had all opted to gather at the other side of the camp instead of the central clearing. So, all Toph had to do was to wait for an opportunity to sneak off to General Iroh's tent, because she knew enough about Prince Zuko by now to know that he would definitely stay behind hiding in the tent.

Once she made sure no one was around, Toph got to the tent, and paused - huh, how do you knock on a tent door? There needed to be a portable doorbell or something - not that _she_ needed one, but she got the feeling the prince wouldn’t be very amused if she just suddenly barged in. 

Lacking any other means Toph just announced in the loudest quiet voice she could -

_“Don’t freak out, I’m coming in!”_

And - after a few tries of fumbling around trying to find it - she opened the tent flap. At least Prince Zuko should have gotten enough warning time by then...

Toph went inside, and could immediately feel him tense.

“No need to get all worked up, I just came to talk."

“That’s what I was afraid of...” Prince Zuko muttered sullenly from one corner of the tent. 

Toph grinned at him brightly. Yep, she could deal with this.

“Hey, I’m not big on awkward one-on-one talks either, so consider this a sacrifice for us both, okay?”

Toph didn’t wait for an answer, just sat down on the ground in the middle of the tent, which was still far enough from Prince Zuko that he could keep his comfortable distance to her.

“You have a cool uncle,” Toph started carefully, “I met him before and he gave me some great advice. I think if you’re anything like him, we’re gonna get along just fine.”

Prince Zuko sighed, “I’m nothing like him at all.” And he honestly seemed to believe that.

“I don’t know, I think he’d disagree with you on that.”

No reply.

“Soooo, what should I call you?" Toph asked, since obviously Prince Zuko wasn't going to keep this conversation rolling. "At home I knew a lot of rich people, but not actual _royalty,_ so I’m not sure about the proper etiquette. Do you wanna go by Prince or Your Highness or something,” she smirked, and okay maybe she was needling him a bit, “but honestly, I’m still kind of leaning towards Sparky.”

“Just Zuko is fine.”

“Okay, Sparky it is then, great!” Toph grinned at him. He only huffed mildly, so she considered that a win.

Zuko was quiet for a long moment, but when Toph showed no other intention than continuing to grin annoyingly at him, he finally gave up and asked her, “Why are you here? I thought you guys were done with me.”

“Well, I don’t know about the others, but I’m not done.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, maybe it's your fun relaxing company. Maybe I can relate, because I spent most of my childhood locked up in a big fancy house too, and wasn’t allowed to interact with the outside world," she said with a shrug, then grinned slyly, "- or maybe I just _really_ wanna annoy Sokka."

Zuko stayed quiet.

Toph sighed. “Listen, I don’t need a deep meaningful reason for everything like Aang or Katara. If I like someone, then I just like them. I don’t need to know _why_.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“What? I shouldn’t like you? Too bad, I already do," Toph smiled brightly. "Annoying, right?”

Another huff. This was actually going pretty well - Toph was still in the tent, nothing was on fire, and Zuko hadn’t yelled at her even once.

And Toph realized that the tent had a lingering scent of jasmine tea, which she had already learned to associate with General Iroh, and much like his presence, it was weirdly familiar and comforting. Toph remembered the first time she had met the old General, and felt calm and determined - there was nothing wrong with asking for help...

Toph let Prince Zuko keep his silence for a while, until it seemed like his anxiety had lowered enough that he might even be willing to talk to her.

“Anyway, I was wondering if you could help me out with something?”

Zuko shifted uncomfortably, but nodded. Then probably realized she didn’t see it - but of course she had guessed that from his movement already - and said, “Uh, what is it?”

“My friends seem to be convinced that they can’t trust you because you’re the Fire Lord’s son - and I kinda butted heads with them on that. I thought it would actually be really useful for us, but my friends are kind of stubborn-headed like that sometimes.” Toph huffed, and muttered irritably, “And they say _I’m_ the one who’s being difficult --”

Zuko didn’t say anything to that, but he was listening and still made no indication of wanting to throw her out --

Toph leaned forward, this might be a hard one to sell, but she was absolutely certain it was the right thing to do.

“Okay, so, I wanna make a deal with you.”

“What kind of deal?” He was suspicious as she had expected, no problem.

“Your uncle is pretty cool, right? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone if he’d be the one sitting on the big firey throne, and not your shitty dad?”

Zuko seemed taken aback and tensed again noticeably, he probably hadn't expected her to get straight to the point like that. 

“So, here’s the deal - help me and my friends to kick Fire Lord Ozai’s ass and replace him with General Iroh - and then you can go home again without being forced to live in a dark stinky cell for the rest of your life. Sound good?”

“You want my uncle to become the Fire Lord?” As expected he sounded scandalized, but he didn’t sound mad - Toph took that as a good sign.

“Don’t you?” Toph asked, already knowing the answer. “Would your uncle ever lock you up in an underground prison?”

Zuko didn't reply to that, but he didn’t really need to.

She waited, it was an easy question to answer for her, but she knew it wouldn’t be an easy one for him. Zuko was quiet for a long time and by the time he started talking again, he was practically shaking with anxiety -

"How would you even do that - replacing the Fire Lord isn't easy - even if - if my -" his breath hitched sharply, and he continued in an increasingly unsteady voice, "- uh, even if the Fire Lord is taken down - there will be a lot of resistance against replacing him - against anyone... _Everyone_ in the Capital is loyal to - to, you know -" he trailed off, before quietly adding, "you couldn't live there if you weren't..."

Toph furrowed her brows at his disjointed way of addressing the Fire Lord - not that it was surprising he might have _some issues_ with the jerk-in-charge.

"I didn't think it would be easy - none of us thinks it's going to be easy. But isn't at least trying way better than _not_ trying?"

He didn't say anything to that. And now Toph couldn't help thinking that there was another alternative too, which they didn't even know as an option before -- but for Zuko's sake, she kind of hoped no one would even seriously suggest it. She figured Zuko must've realized that option too, but for now, neither of them wanted to say it aloud.

"And that's it -?" Zuko finally asked, sounding dubious. "That's - that's your plan, to replace the Fire Lord, and - you're not going to do anything else --?"

Toph frowned a little, unsure how to answer that in a way that wouldn't upset him, "Uh, are you talking about attacking the Fire Nation? I mean, you said it yourself, Fire Lord Ozai isn't going to go down easily and he'll have people defending him, so that's a problem we'll have to deal with - but otherwise, yeah, taking him down is our main goal." Toph hesitated, hoping she wasn't going too far too fast with this, but - "You do know _a lot_ of people in the world are suffering because of him, right? And obviously, you were suffering too... I mean, could you ever have a normal life as long as he's in power?

Zuko made a weird sound in response to that. Almost something like a laugh - which definitely _would_ be weird coming from him.

But aside from that he didn't reply in any way. 

“So, what do you say?" Toph asked, shifting a little nervously now that she didn't feel as confident about the answer as she would've liked to. "Do we have a deal?” 

After a quiet awkward moment Zuko seemed to realize that she wasn’t leaving before he gave her at least some kind of an answer, so he finally quietly muttered, 

“I’ll think about it --”

“Great!” Toph replied with a satisfied smile, relieved that there wasn't an outright denial. “And I’m definitely gonna ask you again, so be ready next time!”

Toph realized someone else was approaching them, and then sure enough soon the tent flap was lifted up, and General Iroh walked in with soft but firm steps.

“Here you are, young lady. I see you chose to keep company to my nephew,” General Iroh sounded pleased. “I'm very glad to see he has friends closer to his own age, and not just an old man like me.”

“Oh, I think you’re probably a great friend,” Toph grinned. 

Iroh laughed, deep and genuine, “Flattery will get you anywhere, my dear. Would you like a cup of tea?” 

“No, thank you, I was just leaving anyway.” She got up and smiled at Iroh. There was always something very familiar about him... Toph felt like he tended to stand more like an earthbender than a firebender - firmly rooted on the ground, and while he was soft-spoken, she had no doubt that Iroh would be harder than stone if you ever made the mistake of butting heads with him.

So yeah, maybe Zuko was right in that he was very different from General Iroh. 

More than anything, Zuko reminded her of the restless sand dunes of the Si Wong Desert, where everything was fuzzy and the ever-shifting unstable ground had made Toph feel terrifyingly powerless. But it was also clear to her that a lot about Prince Zuko was less because of who he really was, and much more because who he'd been _forced_ to be... 

And that needed to change. Toph was glad that Sparky had someone like Iroh to take care of him - but she was pretty sure having help from a few more friends couldn’t hurt either.

“You can make two cups of tea, and give mine to Prince Zuko as well,” Toph said, and threw a charitable smile at Zuko. 

“What an excellent suggestion!”

Going by the frustrated sigh, Zuko didn’t seem as enthusiastic about it, but also didn’t protest when Iroh moved to get the teapot. 

Toph waved at Zuko when she left, “Bye! I’ll get back to you on that deal later, I mean it! I won’t leave you alone until you give me an answer.”

She left the tent feeling accomplished and in a lot better mood than she had been in the morning. Maybe no one cared for Toph's opinion when planning their next move in ending the war - but she just knew this was the right path to take.

Now she just had to make the others see that too.

* * *

“I’m very happy to see that you’ve made a new friend.”

Zuko turned his head away from his uncle's amused smile.

“She’s not my friend.”

“Really? It seemed she rather liked you.”

“I don’t know why. She just keeps asking me things.”

Uncle Iroh hummed quietly, but didn’t comment. 

Zuko felt so utterly out of his depth with everything, and apparently _everyone_ \- that he almost felt longing for how much easier it had been when he didn’t have to talk to anyone about anything at all. 

But now he had to nervously wait for Toph to appear again and ask him - with all the subtlety of a komodo-rhino - to become a full-blown traitor to his nation. As if it wasn't bad enough that Zuko had to try to wrap his mind around Uncle Iroh willingly helping the enemy forces.

At this point he preferred not to think about the Fire Lord _at all_ anymore - or care about whatever his father was doing, or was going to do. He had already wasted years thinking of nothing but that voice waking him up in the dark again -

"You used to like chili fried shark-squid as a child, didn't you?" Uncle Iroh asked casually, and shook a little jar of chili seasonings. 

Zuko dragged his eyes to what he assumed was a plate of - whatever was left of the shark-squid.

"That was Azula," he muttered, "I never liked them..."

"Azula?" Uncle Iroh looked at him in surprise, then frowned down at the plate he was holding. "Oh, well, it is certainly not the first time my memory has failed me. In that case, we will have to improvise a little bit - let's see, what else do we have - some radish, sweet potatoes - peppers --" Uncle Iroh fished out ingredients from his cups and containers, and smiled a little sadly at one of them, "- you know, you two looked so alike when you were younger, like little twins with your matching clothes..." he opened the container, "- ugh, I definitely meant to throw _this_ away."

_So alike..._

Zuko stared tiredly at the various bowls of food that Uncle Iroh placed in the middle of the table. It didn't take long for him to prepare something edible from whatever he had found, and Zuko dutifully sat across from his uncle to eat. This time too Uncle Iroh let him finish eating without any prodding questions --

\- which meant he was sparing them for tea again...

Soon there was a cup of steaming hot tea in front of him, and Zuko was thankful that at least his uncle hadn't followed up on Toph's request and given him _two_ cups... 

Though, Iroh did bring something else to accompany the jasmine tea, a garish box of - Mangsu's appleberry-teacakes? 

Zuko frowned at the brightly patterned red and gold box, and then glanced up at his uncle's satisfied expression as Iroh fondly arranged the precise layout of his tea-table setting. 

Of course... _of course_ his uncle would make time in the middle of his war planning to get his hands on lavish teacakes, while even in the Capital City you needed to make a special order for them to be delivered from one specific old bakery in Shuhon Island. 

Uncle Iroh sat down on the ground opposite Zuko and took a sip of his tea, looking utterly at peace and content with nothing but his jasmine tea and a box of ridiculous luxury teacakes. It was all somehow incredibly irritating, and Zuko gritted his teeth as he tried to restrain from showing anything to Uncle Iroh. Offending his uncle wasn't something he could afford to do, he truly had no one else left... 

Zuko took his cup of jasmine tea, but instead of drinking just held it in his hands - pretending to find the little leaves floating in the water fascinating enough that he wouldn't have to face Uncle Iroh's sharp scrutiny. At this point he wouldn't be surprised if his uncle could literally read his thoughts too. 

“You know, something occurred to me during the meeting with the Avatar,” Uncle Iroh started conversationally, “How is your firebending these days?”

Zuko ducked his head lower, deeply ashamed.

“It’s - bad, really bad," he admitted miserably, "I wasn’t allowed to practise, so I just - sometimes it felt like I couldn’t do anything anymore...” He _really_ didn’t want to talk about this -- 

“How about now that you got out?”

Zuko glared at him, frustrated - _surely_ his uncle should know that already, “You mean when I was held captive by those kids?? How could I have done _ANYTHING_!! Or do you mean when I burned all their stuff, and they _literally_ dragged me here!! I'm sure they told you all about _that!!_ "

“If you explain your situation to them, I’m sure they will be understanding, and are willing to listen to you too," Iroh said. "And you might find out that perhaps you have more in common with them than you think.”

“I don’t want to talk to them,” Zuko said tersely. He was planning on staying in the tent until they left. He had absolutely no desire to see their hateful looks directed at him again.

Uncle Iroh sighed, looking down at the cup he was holding. His thumb was absently following the smooth curve of the porcelain cup, as he stared somewhere far beyond it.

“Yesterday you heard that I was going to teach the Avatar firebending," Iroh started, still engrossed with his tea cup. "I’m very honored to be trusted with such a sacred duty, something that is crucial in keeping the Avatar cycle alive.”

Zuko couldn't care less about the Avatar, but Uncle Iroh still wasn’t looking at him, and he had a bad feeling that his uncle was preparing to say something Zuko definitely wouldn't want to hear... 

“Unfortunately, as is usually the case, nothing is ever that simple - the situation is very dire in many places, where help is much needed and our allies are stretched thin." Iroh sighed wearily, "You need not concern yourself with this, but I feel it is still necessary to inform you that the Fire Nation has finally conquered Ba Sing Se.” 

Zuko stared at him, eyes wide with shock.

"What - how -- ?"

“All those years that I wasted in such a dishonorable quest -- I was wrong to try to conquer it and I committed some unforgivable acts during that time..." Iroh shook his head ruefully, regret etched on every line of his face. "But now - your sister Princess Azula has succeeded in something no Fire Nation general has ever before.”

Zuko felt like he got the wind knocked out of him. 

Of course it had to be _Azula_ \-- her feats of greatness had reached such impossible heights that Zuko felt lower than an antworm compared to her. All those years she’d been taunting him, telling him how pathetic and unskilled he was, how he could never be successful compared to her - and she’d been right all along, of course. Azula was always right.

She was extraordinary, and Zuko was --

“Princess Azula nearly managed to take me down too,” Iroh chuckled slightly, without much humor to it. “Her lightning attack took me by surprise, and I would not have survived had it not been for the quick actions of the Avatar and his friends.”

He felt numb - this was way too much information again, and Zuko desperately wanted to tell his uncle that he was too tired for all of this -

“Many significant events have happened during the past few months, and Azula has been the cause of great many misery. I fear that she is only beginning - as you well know, she is blindly loyal to your father.” Uncle Iroh held Zuko's gaze, looking as intensely serious as he had the night before, “But please consider that while it may not appear like it yet, you are now in a better position than your sister, Prince Zuko - you escaped from your father’s influence. You are free to choose your own path in life.”

That just sounded like another lie to Zuko. He would never be better at _anything_ than Azula. 

Uncle Iroh was watching him carefully, worry evident in his eyes. 

“By now, there will be many people looking for both you and the Avatar, including your sister. I'm sure you are aware that we are still much too close to the Capital Island, and we might need to leave from here on our separate ways with very little warning," Iroh said. "My concern is that in this difficult situation I don’t have as much time to dedicate to teaching the Avatar the level of firebending he will need."

Zuko knew he should concentrate on what his uncle was telling him, but his mind was still fully occupied by the mental image of Azula sitting at the throne of Ba Sing Se, while Zuko could barely even walk on his own...

“Then it occurred to me,” Uncle Iroh continued, his voice was still kind, but there was a sharpness in his words that drew Zuko's eyes back to him, “that there is someone much better suited to teach a young enthusiastic pupil the basics of firebending, than an old man with achy joints --” 

Uncle Iroh held Zuko’s gaze pointedly. 

Zuko stared at him. 

_“No, uncle, no --”_

“Why not, Prince Zuko? I think you’d be an excellent teacher for the Avatar.”

“That’s the problem!! The _AVATAR_ is the problem!! He’s been the enemy of our nation for a hundred years - _and you want me to TEACH him??”_

Uncle Iroh merely smiled at him calmly, eternally patient.

“Then isn’t it high time he stopped being the enemy? I can think of no better person to mend the wounds caused by our nation than someone who knows the cruelty of it as intimately as you.”

Zuko looked down at his tea cup - at the hands holding it and the red etchings of deep scars coiling down his wrists --

He closed his eyes in pain. 

“My father punished me because I was weak -”

“ _NO,_ ” Iroh cut in, so forcefully that Zuko flinched and looked back at him in alarm.

Uncle Iroh took a deep breath, and softened his tone, “No, Prince Zuko, my brother did not punish you because of anything you are or anything you did. His treatment of you was driven by his own cruelty. A father who enjoys the suffering of his children will _never_ be worthy of their respect. Nothing excuses what he did to you.”

Zuko bit his lip, and looked down at the ground. He had so long wanted someone to say those words to him, whether they were true or false - but even as he heard them, they brought along nothing but more pain.

Uncle Iroh regarded him quietly for a moment, clearly he could see that his words had affected Zuko deeply. After a pause, he continued with a soft affectionate voice that Zuko remembered hearing in his childhood -

“In a better situation, we would have more time to spend together, and you would have time to heal and rest,” his uncle said, smile gentle and sorrowful, “but unfortunately we are in this difficult crossroads that we are, and time is running short. War does not treat anyone kindly.”

“I can’t teach the Avatar,” Zuko said quietly, the words seemed absurd even as he said them. The whole idea was against everything he had ever known. “You can’t ask me to do that.”

“Of course, it is ultimately your own choice. But, in any case, when we leave on our separate ways from this location, I think you should go with the Avatar and his friends.” 

Zuko could only stare at his uncle again, speechless and shocked to his core. 

After years of isolation, he had just found someone familiar he could trust - literally the _only_ person he could trust -- and now his uncle wanted to leave him with the people who'd taken him as a prisoner?? 

“It might not seem like it now, but you’ll be much safer with them," Iroh's voice was still calm and gentle, but he continued firmly, "those children are some of the most powerful benders I have ever seen, and their sky bison is the fastest means of travel, and perhaps more importantly, of _escaping_ \- faster even than our military's air ships -" 

_\- air ships -- what??_

This was too much - he _really_ didn't want to hear anything anymore.

Zuko stood up quickly - probably too quickly, but he was fuming mad again.

" _NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I’ll come with you!!_ ”

Uncle Iroh only looked up at him calmly - his silence enough of an answer already. 

Zuko clenched his fists tightly, nails pressing sharply against his skin. He wanted to just march out, to be mad, and to be _alone_. He knew he couldn't talk his way out of this - of _anything_ , since everyone else was always so much better with words than he was -- and somehow, everything he said got turned against him eventually anyway... 

He stared at the tent opening, frustrated with himself - there was nothing stopping him from leaving, but he couldn't do it. He'd just have to face someone else instead, and now, he didn't want to be seen either... Realizing he was out of options again, Zuko had to sit back down and pretend not to flush with embarrassment, while Uncle Iroh carefully followed his every move.

The ground was much easier to look at than his uncle, when Iroh continued - 

"I don't pretend to understand how difficult all of this is for you," Uncle Iroh sighed, waiting for a moment, before continuing, "But there is something that directly concerns you, Zuko, and needs to be addressed -- We are all laying our hopes on the Avatar being able to defeat the Fire Lord, when the time for the final battle comes - but my brother is not the only obstacle even if he falls... It is almost certain that Ozai's supporters will insist on the throne being passed on to Princess Azula."

Uncle Iroh paused for a moment, as if searching for some kind of reaction from him, but Zuko was too tired to think about anything - he was barely even paying attention to what his uncle was saying anymore...

"The truth is that the Order of the White Lotus is mostly comprised of veterans of old battles, and we are all ready for this to be our last. So, there is a likely possibility that I might not survive, in which case there should be someone left from the Royal Family to make sure that Ozai's throne will not fall into the wrong hands again," Iroh said gravely, "- and that should be you, Prince Zuko. As I'm sure you know well, we _cannot_ allow Princess Azula to take your father's place."

So, it was about _that_ again... Zuko had just gotten out of being imprisoned in the Palace for years, but now it seemed like they all wanted him to go _back?_ He couldn't even imagine walking into the Fire Lord's chamber ever again, let alone sitting on his throne - something he had only ever envisioned in his nightmares... 

At least Uncle Iroh replacing the Fire Lord would make sense - but Zuko taking his father's place was even more absurd than him teaching the Avatar. 

Uncle Iroh was regarding him with a concerned frown, “But as your uncle, right now the most important thing for me is that you should have friends of your own age that you never had a chance to make. People who can offer you a future to look forward to - please trust me, Prince Zuko, I truly believe you will benefit greatly from going together with the Avatar.”

Zuko shook his head, deeply tired and distressed - he knew he shouldn't say anything, because he'd just end up sounding desperate and pitiful, but still - 

“I - I can't do that, Uncle Iroh, those kids - they HATE me, and - and - I don’t trust them! I _don’t_ want to deal with the Avatar -- uncle, please, I can help you, I can go with you..." Zuko grimaced to himself as he trailed off - he hated pleading, and even worse, he was painfully aware that every time he was reduced to pleading he'd already lost...

Uncle Iroh sighed, and sat back. He searched Zuko’s face thoughtfully, clearly still trying to win him over. 

“Prince Zuko, if we go talk to them together, will at you at least consider this possibility?”

Zuko felt too dejected to say anything to that anymore. 

He pinched his eyes closed again - everyone here seemed to know by now that he had spent the last three years in the dark and cut off from the world, but they were _still_ expecting him to agree to impossible deals with them, and to accept whatever they told him -

\-- all the while, he got the sinking feeling that being able to say 'no' had never been an option for him in the first place...

* * *

The sun was starting to set, and the campfire was crackling brightly under the darkening sky. 

The temperature on the island was so pleasantly caught between warm and not-too-warm that Sokka would've been perfectly fine just chilling around eating his third bowl of shark-squid soup for the rest of the evening.

Of course, Sokka didn't have time to get even halfway through his bowl, when Toph cheerfully announced that they were going to get some visitors - which wasn't that unexpected since earlier during the day General Iroh had promised to an anxiously hovering Aang that he'd stop by later -

\- but apparently he had decided to take some company with him. 

Some very _very_ reluctant company.

_Well,_ this was awkward...

General Iroh had to practically push his scowling nephew the rest of the way to their campfire, and even then after an initial brief-yet-murderous glare, Prince Zuko seemed to be intent on looking at absolutely anywhere else but them. 

Sokka grimaced a little, and looked at the others. Aang bit his lip nervously, while Katara was studying Prince Zuko cautiously. 

Toph was smiling to herself, suspiciously smirkily - and _of course_ she was, Sokka could bet she had something to do with this... 

Prince Zuko looked slightly more put together than the previous night - which wasn't saying much obviously, but at least he'd had a change of clothes. They were clearly his uncle's and he kept restlessly fidgeting with the robe sleeves, which seemed to be both too big and too short for him. 

But his mood didn't seem to have changed much - for the worse, if anything. He was basically radiating hostility, and Sokka got the feeling that he was maybe trying to make up for the fact that they'd all just seen him cry openly the day before, which probably didn't go along well with that prideful and aloof thing he stubbornly kept clinging onto --

\- though, if Sokka were in his place, he'd be mortifyingly embarrassed too.

And yeah - now, despite the extremely non-glamorous clothes, Sokka could see the family resemblance to Princess Azula. He wasn't sure how he missed it earlier - that disdainful look wasn't some generic Fire Nation thing, but a very specific kind of royal haughtiness, which Sokka had seen plenty of times directed at him and his friends, usually preceding a lightning strike that nearly killed them...

This was all just so - _weird..._ It had been a lot easier to discuss the Fire Lord's son when he wasn't right there in front of them - glaring at them so utterly hatefully that Sokka would absolutely not be surprised if Prince Zuko could set things on fire with his eyes as well...

In jarring contrast to his perpetually sour nephew, General Iroh greeted them amicably as usual -

"Good evening, I hope we are not interrupting anything?" 

"General Iroh, Prince Sparky, nice of you to stop by," Toph grinned graciously, like she'd just personally appointed herself the welcoming host of their campfire dinner -- although, since boring fake names were out and Your Highness was just a big _nope_ , Sokka had to admit that Toph’s nickname for their new royal guest did have a certain flair to it that appealed to him... 

Toph waved her hand in Sokka's direction - "You're not interrupting anything except Sokka's third refill of shark-squid soup."

Sokka shot a look at her, but declined from crankily protesting in front of General Iroh. The sparky prince in question just stared at Toph warily, maybe a few degrees less murderously than at the others, but it seemed like he had absolutely no intention of saying a single word to any of them.

Katara greeted General Iroh and his nephew as well, but then turned to Toph suspiciously, "Uh, you didn't happen to do something earlier, Toph? Something you maybe should've mentioned to us first, did you -?"

"Sure did," Toph confirmed with a smug grin, and shrugged, "but so what, I went to talk to Prince Zuko - you didn't think I'd just hang out with Momo and Appa all morning, huh?"

“Yeah, I kind of guessed that already, but Toph, you know we could've talked about this -” Katara sighed.

She was using her 'mum-tone' that Sokka knew Toph hated, and sure enough Toph frowned irritably at Katara, “Hey, I can do whatever I want with my free time, I thought we made that clear??” 

"And I was very glad to see that you came for a visit, young Master Toph," General Iroh said reassuringly, "I'm sure my nephew appreciated it too --"

Prince Zuko did not confirm that in any way, but the completely blank response didn't seem to discourage his uncle, "As I mentioned earlier, there is something that I believe we should discuss with all of you present - and if there is something you'd like to say to each other, this might be a good opportunity for that as well."

"Uh, sure..." Aang said carefully. 

"Prince Zuko told me that he had unfortunately burned some of your belongings - but considering the circumstances, I’m sure you will understand that my nephew was in a very confused state after his sudden release," General Iroh said, and then turned to look at Prince Zuko expectantly, "and I’m sure he won’t do it again -”

Prince Zuko was stubbornly staring at his fidgeting hands rather than at them, but mumbled something that sounded like, “I won’t do it again...”

"Uhh, I'm glad to hear that -?" Aang replied uncertainly, "umm, I mean, that's good to know. And yeah, of course, we understand that it was - uhh, a confusing situation..." 

Aang glanced at Katara and then Sokka, who just shrugged back at him. Well, it was true enough - had they even gotten to _any_ non-confusing situations yet? 

"And perhaps there is something you children might like to say to Prince Zuko --?" General Iroh prompted them gently.

Aang shifted on his feet, looking very jittery, as he hesitantly addressed Prince Zuko, "Uh, yeah, we're really sorry for taking you as a prisoner, and we won't do it again either - uh, I mean, well, obviously we wouldn't - do that..." Aang trailed off with a grimace, as Prince Zuko glared sourly at him.

Sokka sighed, Aang's attempts at mediation sounded lame even to him. He was really very ready for them to literally move on from this, and let the Fire Nation former-enemy go on his, well, arguably not-so-merry way -- 

Sokka clapped at his knee and stood up, giving his best placating smile, “Yes, we're all very sorry, and everyone did something bad, but I’m sure we can all agree that the past is in the past and we're better people now than we were yesterday," he looked at General Iroh hopefully, "So, that's all settled, right? Thank you for visiting us, this has been _very_ heartwarming...”

"Yeah, hopefully we're all okay now -?" Aang smiled shakily.

Prince Zuko didn't look like he was okay with any of this, but he definitely hadn't been subtle about that to begin with, so no major surprises there.

Of course, General Iroh didn’t seem to be on the same page as any of them, he wasn't even on the same _book_ \- 

“Actually, there was something else I was hoping to talk to you about, if you don't mind," General Iroh said, and glanced at Prince Zuko before continuing, “and this happens to involve my nephew as well...”

Toph raised her hand up enthusiastically. “I vote yes!” 

“Toph, you can’t just vote yes!! You don’t even know what he’s gonna say!” Sokka cried out. Besides, it was painfully obvious that whatever the question might be, it was going to be something that firstly, Toph _would_ like - and secondly, Sokka definitely _wouldn't_ like. 

All the proof he needed was that Toph was wearing her smug know-it-all smile again - and yeah, to be fair, she usually DID know it all. It was both amazing, and _completely irritating_ at the same time. 

_“Yes I do,_ " Toph protested firmly, "And I think you should listen to General Iroh, he’s had some great ideas before.”

General Iroh smiled at her politely, “Your vote of confidence is much appreciated, young Master Toph.”

Toph beamed at him.

"This is something that concerns you all, but especially you, Avatar Aang, "General Iroh looked at the esteemed Avatar, who suddenly seemed very squirmy again. "As you know, there are many dangerous people after us now, and we might need to leave from here on a moment's notice, which means that at least for a while our ways will be separated again. And unfortunately, for those of us without a mighty air bison, traveling will be much slower and less efficient -"

"Yeah, Appa is great!!" Aang confirmed with a wide affectionate smile, and nodded, "We couldn't get anywhere without him! I mean, can you imagine having to _walk_ everywhere, ughhh..." 

"I'm sure your bison companion is priceless to you in many ways," General Iroh said kindly, "But I'm worried that the uncertainty of the current situation means that, as I would not be able to travel with you, I also could not devote as much time and attention to your firebending training as necessary --"

“Oh...” Aang’s face fell, "but - but I need to learn firebending before I can face the Fire Lord!! Everyone is depending on that!"

"Yes, of course," Iroh smiled at him, "and I’m very glad to inform you, Avatar Aang, that I believe there is someone else, whose role as your firebending teacher would prove to be much more crucial, in more ways than one --”

And before they had time to process that in any way, General Iroh turned towards Prince Sparky, who was still hiding behind his uncle like a little kid. After seeing everyone’s gazes on him, he seemed to shrink down even further - maybe Prince Zuko could actually become the first firebender who _literally_ managed make the ground swallow him...

“ _Oh,_ ” Aang said.

He looked over at the others pleadingly, eyes searching for their opinions. Katara bit her lip worriedly, and Sokka thought now would be a great time to call it a day, and take a _really_ long nap...

Toph, on the other, seemed to be having a great day. 

“In case you forgot, Twinkletoes, I still vote yes,” she said happily.

Sokka shared a look with Katara, and could see the same deep apprehension in her eyes - they were both painfully familiar with the kind of damage firebenders could leave behind... And whether Prince Zuko would do something intentionally or not, just having to constantly keep an eye on an unstable firebender would be a considerable source of stress for them that they _really_ didn’t need at this time -- 

Suddenly, a hoarse uneven voice said quietly, “They’re obviously going to say no, uncle, _please_ let’s just go...” Prince Zuko was edging further away from them, clearly already half-coiled to spring out of there at any moment

But Aang was looking at Prince Zuko with his introspective _yeah-I’m-an-actual-monk_ -expression, and Sokka got a bad feeling that he was seriously considering this. 

“Would you really want to teach me firebending?”

Prince Zuko glanced at Aang, his expression turning even more impossibly sullen. “ _No,_ ” he said tightly, “I DON'T want to teach you, but I have no other _choice_.”

General Iroh turned to his nephew, looking somewhat affronted, “Prince Zuko, please do not feel like this is a choice that you are forced to make - as I explained earlier, I am highly encouraging you to take this path, because I fully believe that all of you here have things that you could learn from each other - things that would benefit you greatly in the future, Prince Zuko.”

Prince Zuko didn't seem to believe a word of that, which was at least something Sokka could relate to -

"Uh, General Iroh, I mean no disrespect," Sokka said, frowning skeptically, “but - how exactly would that be beneficial?”

General Iroh looked at him for a moment with a slight smile, like he knew something that Sokka didn't know, _again_ \- which was really suspiciously starting to remind him of Toph.

“The Fire Nation has been too long separated from the other elements and the other nations, but now that both the Avatar and the Crown Prince to the Fire Nation are here, there is a perfect opportunity to begin to remake those connections.” General Iroh then smiled warmly, and addressed all of them, “When I look at you children, I see a great and promising future ahead of us - and I genuinely wish that you will help make my nephew part of that future, and to rejoin a life that has been so unjustly denied from him until now.”

Aang nodded solemnly and stood up straighter, and Sokka knew he’d made his decision. 

Sokka sat back down with a deep sigh.

“Thank you, General Iroh, your words mean a great deal to me,” Aang said sincerely. He turned towards Prince Zuko, “I would be honored to accept you as my new firebending teacher, Prince Zuko.” 

Aang placed his right fist against the open palm of his left hand and bowed to Prince Zuko, and then looked at him expectantly - General Iroh subtly nudged his nephew to move closer, and step into the ring of light around the campfire.

Prince Zuko first glanced at his uncle, before hesitantly returning the respectful bow to Aang - while pointedly not looking at any of the others. He still declined to say anything, and continued to mainly scowl at the ground, but Aang seemed to be content with his response.

Toph grinned happily, Katara shifted uneasily, and Sokka still preferred to go straight to the nap part.

His only consolation was that Prince Sparky seemed to be just as unenthusiastic about all this as Sokka was feeling.

Okay, so it was good that Aang had a firebending teacher, regardless of who it was, because well, that was a crucial part the whole ending-the-war-thing. And sure it might prove to be a possible strategic advantage to have another insider from the Palace City - but that kind of depended on whether Prince Zuko would be willing to divulge _any_ information to be used in a war against the Fire Nation -

\-- and right now, if his deeply sour expression was any indication, he was going to be as happy about helping them as Aang would be about eating ten bowls of sea prunes. 

But if His Royal Sparkiness decided to change his mind and wanted to be useful, _great_ \- Sokka was fine with that. All _he_ wanted to do was just to keep everyone _ALIVE_ , and hopefully still continuing to be alive through the next month, and preferably even past that - which probably wouldn't happen if everyone he knew got roasted to a crisp by superpowered firebenders when a giant comet decided to drop by for a visit.

Sokka sighed heavily. He had to voice his concerns, since it was obvious no one else was going to address them, “What about our allies and the -" he glanced at Prince Zuko, "- uhh, the attacks? Of course, I’m not saying that, uhm - rehabilitating your nephew isn’t important, General Iroh, but ending the war should take priority, right?”

General Iroh smiled at him indulgently, “I’m certain that you’ll find those two things are much more connected than you think, young Master Sokka.”

“Still with the cryptic, huh?” Sokka frowned. 

Katara bumped his arm lightly, “It’s called wisdom, Sokka, you should try it sometimes.”

Toph cackled at that, which just made Sokka scowl more.

“Please do not sell your brother short, young Master Katara," General Iroh said, still smiling with twinkly eyes, "He’s a very clever young man who I'm sure will achieve great things. Master Piandao was most impressed with him, and that is no easy feat to accomplish.”

_Master Piandao_ had praised him to General Iroh -- Sokka felt his cheeks warm, and he had to bite his lip not to grin like an idiot.

“Oh, I agree with Master Piandao, I’ve been impressed by Sokka many times!” Aang grinned at him too.

Sokka nudged Aang’s shoulder affectionately, “Thanks, Aang, you know you’re pretty impressive too.”

“Yeah, but I’m the Avatar, I’m _supposed_ to be impressive! You’re just impressive because you’re you!”

“True true, but I’d say you’re impressive even for an Avatar - and that’s like SUPER impressive!”

"But being the -"

General Iroh not-so-discreetly cleared his throat to interrupt them.

“I’m glad we’re all in agreement with each other," he said, sounding very pleased. "Before we all retire for a well-deserved rest, I would like to request that the young Avatar would come to meet Prince Zuko and I tomorrow at daybreak. This is a new situation for all of us, and it might help to discuss it together first..."

Aang nodded seriously, “Of course, General Iroh, I’ll be there at daybreak!”

Prince Zuko had apparently decided to ignore their entire existence, and just hovered silently and awkwardly near his uncle, until General Iroh finally wished them goodnight.

After the royal visitors had left for the night, the rest sat quietly for a moment, trying to digest what just happened. 

“Huh,” Sokka said, “so that just happened.”

Toph had her smirky smile on again, "Not to say _I told you so_ , but..."

“Okay, fess it up then, what did you do?” Sokka sighed, feeling dejected and defeated.

Toph shrugged at him, “Hey, I didn't know that General Iroh was going to ask Prince Zuko to teach Aang - I just asked Sparky to help us kick some big-time Fire Lord-butt, that's all." 

"Of course you did..."

Aang looked thoughtful. “I didn’t really expect to have _yet another_ firebending teacher, but I have a feeling it was somehow meant to end up like this...”

“It does seem pretty symbolic that your teacher would be the son of your biggest enemy,” Katara said pensively.

“Symbolic or blah blah whatever,” Toph mimicked Katara with her hand, “General Iroh is great, but I think Sparky is gonna be a much better match for you, Twinkletoes!”

“Ughhh, this is going to be sooooo awkward,” Sokka moaned - he had no energy left for anything else except to grab his fluffy new blanket, and collapse backwards on the sleeping mat.

“I know right!!” Toph grinned, “I can’t wait!”

* * *

Aang dragged himself out of his sleeping bag when the sun came up. 

Though, not entirely voluntarily, since Toph had to literally kick his butt with a rock to wake him up. He also received a lone encouraging thumb-up, which appeared to him from under a pile of wild bedhair, along with a glimpse of Toph's face.

“Good luck, Twinkletoes,” she whispered and burrowed back to sleep, leaving Aang to deal with the fate of the world and all that stuff.

He looked over enviously at Katara and Sokka, still cozy and dozing under their blankets.

Aang was used to the fact that his life was full of constant changes ever since he dropped out of the iceberg, but he still felt like Toph had bended the ground from under him whenever his mind had prepared for one thing, and it was suddenly changed into another. 

And learning firebending was a big deal, not just for him, but for pretty much _everyone..._

He sighed, and then yawned heartily, his toes lifting from the ground as he stretched high enough to touch the roof of the tent. Momo immediately jumped on his shoulder and chirped loudly, apparently mistaking Aang’s morning exercises for a breakfast proposal.

“Sorry, Momo, you’ll just have to wait to eat breakfast later - like me,” but then his stomach grumbled loudly, and he couldn't help looking around for food. He spotted some hotflakes that Toph had apparently found somewhere, and figured that at least those might wake him up a bit more... He nodded at Momo, “Okay, maybe just a little snack.”

The sun was barely above the horizon and the light was still pale, as Aang made his way through the quiet campsite, munching on the fiery hotflakes. The valley had gathered a pretty impressive mist coverage during the night and it was just starting to fade away, leaving hazy trails of damp air between the tents.

Aang knew firebenders tended to get up at dawn, but he _really_ hoped that his new teacher wasn’t going to make that a part of his learning routine. He was already tired just thinking about it.

Aang came to a stop in front of General Iroh's tent and hovered there awkwardly - they really needed to get a doorbell on those.

“Uh, helloo, General Iroh? Prince Zuko?”

Aang heard fabric rustling and General Iroh came out of the tent, already looking fresh as day.

Sigh, _firebenders..._

“Good morning, young Avatar,” General Iroh greeted with a genuinely warm smile as usual, “I hope you had enough time to rest for your first lesson?”

Aang rubbed his head, “Uh, well it _is_ pretty early...”

Iroh just laughed at him indulgently, “Perhaps my nephew will be a bit more lenient with your timetable.”

“Yeah...” Aang said uncomfortably, already having had to amend the expectations he had for his firebending lessons - he had pictured having a nice leisurely firebending session with relaxing long pauses for a cup of tea and some sage advice... but _now_ the image had changed to tiptoeing around a moody teenager who either refused to speak to him or yelled at him louder than a hog-monkey - and probably wouldn’t even offer him any tea _at all_.

“Umm, is Prince Zuko going to come with us... ?” Aang peeked at the tent.

“Oh, my nephew is already waiting for us,” Iroh smiled at him. “He got up to see the sunrise - I thought it would be good for his peace of mind, as he has been separated from the source of his element for much too long...”

“Right,” Aang said, and tried to imagine himself living without his element - it would be a pretty short existence since he’d probably be immediately squashed like a pancake. He didn’t know whether to laugh or shudder at that thought. At least it was way more possible for firebenders to live without their element - but it still felt very wrong that someone had done that to Prince Zuko on purpose. Aang wondered how their firebending lessons would go, he had a feeling they might end up being as important to Zuko as they were to Aang - maybe in a way he had to learn firebending again too...

They walked in companionable silence through the little tent village, nodding on the way to the White Lotus members who were already awake too. Apparently people in the Fire Nation never slept in late, Aang noted tiredly. 

Outside of the camp and the thick forest canopy, Appa was still sleeping soundly on a grassy clearing. He grunted groggily when Aang stopped by to scratch his head. There were bits of hay stuck on Appa's fur from last night’s dinner, and Aang pulled a few of them off before jogging back to General Iroh, who was waiting for him indulgently.

The air felt cool and fresh, and Aang itched to go flying again - but of course, that would still have to wait...

General Iroh simply informed him that they were going to the seaside, and led Aang towards the nearby valley, which separated the steep cliffs like a sharp crack in ice. A slanted beam of morning light greeted them on the pathway, and painted long blue shadows along the cliffside as they walked further. 

They didn't have to walk for long, before the valley started to widen and Aang could smell the crisp saltiness in the air. Soon, he saw the open sea glittering ahead of them, and once they emerged from the valley, Aang had to blink his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness of the sunny seaside.

They were still quite high up from the sea level, and on this side of the island there didn't seem to be any sandy beaches - instead, further down the shore jagged rocks poked out of the sea and large waves kept restlessly crashing against them. Alongside the coast a few small rocky islands rose up from the sea too, and seemed to be popular resting stops for the local sea birds.

General Iroh walked over to Prince Zuko, who was sitting cross-legged next to a large clearing on the ground, around what seemed to be an old site for a campfire. He was facing the sunrise, uncannily still, and didn’t turn to look at them until they were standing almost next to him. 

It looked like he was lost deep in thought, but also significantly more peaceful than the previous night. Aang felt slightly more encouraged by that - perhaps Prince Zuko wouldn’t be as reluctant to teach him as Aang had feared.

“Good morning,” Aang said politely, hoping they would start off on a more friendly ground this time.

Prince Zuko glanced over at him, expression closed off, but at least it didn't seem to be as hostile as before. “Morning,” he muttered quietly, and turned back towards the sun.

General Iroh smiled pleasantly, “We are lucky it is such a beautiful morning. This is a perfect time for the first firebending lesson, Agni is clearly blessing us.”

Aang smiled too, feeling already more positive and eager to start. He hopped on top of one of the rocks and sat down expectantly, as General Iroh took a seat on the ground next to Zuko.

“I think perhaps it is wise to first establish how much you know of firebending already, young Avatar?” 

Aang worried his lip, still ashamed to admit that - 

“Uh, not much at all...”

“Perhaps you could show us if you can create a flame on your palm?” General Iroh prodded him gently. 

“Um...” Aang lifted his hand and stared at it, willing something to come out. 

He felt the drops of water in the damp sea air, the strength of the stone underneath him and the breeze of air flowing against his clothes, and he could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin too - but he couldn’t feel fire. Not even a little bit. 

When moments had gone by and nothing happened, Aang looked up at his teachers, face red with embarrassment.

“Do not worry,” General Iroh merely said, not sounding discouraged at all, “- all life starts small and grows from there. And fire is also a living thing --” he looked at Prince Zuko, who was watching them distantly. 

Prince Zuko sighed, looking significantly less optimistic than his uncle, but lifted his hand and a small flame appeared on it. As he stared at it intently, Aang could see the reflection of the flame flickering in his eyes. They were almost the same color.

His eyes followed the flame on Zuko’s palm, as it started to move, lightly and effortlessly jumping from one fingertip to another. It looked like a cute little hedgemouse hopping between stones - if the cute hedgemouse _was on fire..._

Aang let out a nervous laugh, and looked at his own palm where nothing was still happening.

His face fell. “I think my firebending is broken...”

“It’s not broken, you just need more time, and you will gain more understanding during the basic exercises,” General Iroh said. “This was not meant to be a test for you. My intention for this meeting was to find a common point to begin your lessons - the better you understand each other, the faster you will improve.”

Aang looked over worriedly at Prince Zuko - he didn’t seem very open to sharing experiences... 

“Uh, well, my goal is to defeat the - Fire Lord,” Aang started tentatively, keeping a careful eye on Zuko’s reactions. It was still weird to think about the Fire Lord being someone’s _dad_ , it'd been far easier to imagine him being a distant brother to General Iroh. But Zuko’s face remained blank and his eyes looked glazed over. “And I think it’s going to require very powerful bending to make that happen, so -- I’m worried because I don’t have a lot of time,” he admitted, and looked over at Iroh, “I had a lot more time to learn the other elements...”

“I have faith in your abilities and determination,” General Iroh said, “and I have faith in Prince Zuko’s firebending skills too. It is much too early to worry about such things.”

“No, he’s right to be worried,” Zuko said suddenly. He closed his palm tightly, and the flame went out. “Uncle, you KNOW I’m not a good firebender - _EVERYONE knows that!!_ ”

“No, Prince Zuko, that is completely untrue,” Iroh said firmly. “Whatever your father and sister have told you was a cruel lie. You are a good firebender, Zuko, all you need is more confidence in yourself to master your craft.”

“You’ve barely even seen me firebending, and that was basic stuff years ago!!” Zuko retorted irritably, but he sounded desperate more than anything else, “And I’ve gotten nowhere after that - I wouldn’t stand a chance against anyone, let alone _Azula_...”

“I did see you firebending when you were a child, and you were good then and you are good now. There is no need to compare yourself with Princess Azula on everything. It was not your skills or determination that was lacking - the problem was the environment in which you were being taught.”

Aang looked between them nervously, not sure if he should try to steer the discussion somewhere else, as Prince Zuko seemed to withdraw back into being quiet and distant again - but then he reignited the flame on his hand, with a deeply tired expression. 

“It doesn’t matter, none of that matters anymore... I don’t have any practical fighting experience at all, so how could I teach the - " Zuko scowled as he reluctantly drew the word out, pointedly still not looking at Aang, " _the Avatar_ about that...”

General Iroh looked at him thoughtfully. 

“Maybe not fighting experience... I think that is something you and the Avatar can practice together. But I believe there is something else you can teach him - something that is the very foundation of all great bending skills,” Iroh said, looking at Zuko intently. “What did you learn in your three years of imprisonment? You told me you were forbidden from firebending, and you had to hide any trace of it --”

Prince Zuko was quiet for a heavy moment.

Aang stared transfixed at Zuko’s hand, where the flame started to circle around his fingers again in a mesmerizing loop. 

“ _Control -_ ” both Aang and Zuko said quietly, at the same time - and looked up at each other in surprise.

Zuko quickly averted his eyes.

Aang felt something in his core click into place.

“That’s exactly right,” General Iroh beamed at them both. “Wasn’t that something you were afraid of, Avatar Aang? Losing control?”

“Yeah,” Aang said slowly, a calming realization dawning on him, “that’s exactly why I didn’t want to learn it anymore...”

Aang kept his eyes on Zuko, who finally looked up to meet his gaze. Aang could see the dancing fire reflected back at him.

Iroh smiled, “Well, I believe you’ve found the perfect teacher then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and to anyone who is still interested in this story! <33 (and you know, for giving this fic a chance in the first place, since there are already literally thousands of amazing AtLA fanfics out there, which is intimidating to say the least lol -- and I'm not sure why I had to throw in yet another AU-scenario, but here we are... *sigh*)
> 
> And thank you so much for your comments! (If I haven't replied to you yet, it's just because due to some irl issues I'm super tired and stressed out atm, and therefore very slow - but I will! :D)
> 
> _Some notes about the story at this point:_   
>  \- Zuko's recovery is obviously an important part of this fic, but it's also very much a plot-heavy 'The Gaang & Zuko being adorable dumbasses together and also go through a lot of shit' -kind of fic (oh, and then they solve the war...)   
>  \- I try my best not to make any value judgments, and I do not think of anyone's point of view as THE correct one.   
>  \- this storyline is VERY different from the rest of season three/ending of the show, which means there are no episode re-tellings or going to the same places, or anything like that...


	6. Back to the world

***

_**6\. Back to the world** _

***

"Uncle - I don't think these fit me..."

"Nonsense, you would look good in anything, dear boy, we just need to find some string somewhere, or a sash -" Uncle Iroh glanced back at Zuko, and frowned, "hmm, though perhaps the pants _were_ a mistake..."

Zuko sighed heavily, and discarded yet another set of clothes and changed back to a plain tunic instead, too tired to try on anything else anymore. His uncle was still digging around the tent, trying to find - something, whatever that would make the oversized clothes look at least half-way presentable on Zuko. 

He bit his lip, and glanced over at the tent opening nervously again, knowing they wouldn't be alone for long... 

He'd been sleeping for almost three days already, and definitely not feeling fully awake yet. Or at least pretending to sleep - the Avatar had managed to contain himself for two days, before he started bouncing restlessly by the tent, poking his head in and asking if Zuko was already awake - which was mainly when he pretended not to be... 

Uncle Iroh had given the same reply every time - no, unfortunately it appeared his nephew still hadn't woken up. 

The Avatar had been so anxious that Uncle Iroh had left with him a couple of times, but apparently the kid still couldn't firebend at all - which was definitely _not_ looking promising for Zuko.

And now it seemed like resting time was over, for everyone...

Zuko gathered up the discarded pile of clothes and set them aside. So far he'd been highly dubious of Uncle Iroh's 'findings', but eventually settled on choosing a relatively dignified looking gray robe on top of the tunic - though, even that did nothing to dissuade his doubts -

"Uh, uncle, what are these clothes?" He sniffed at the sleeve, and there was an undeniable stuffiness about the whole ensemble, but especially the coarse old robe - "and uhm, why does this smell so weird?"

Uncle Iroh paused to look over at what Zuko was wearing - and gave him a mild grin, before turning away with a very unsubtle cough,

“Oh - my memory has gotten very poor unfortunately, but if I recall correctly those were perhaps the clothes I wore during a - well, a somewhat experimental Pai Sho tournament...”

“An experimental Pai Sho tournament.”

“Yes - we did regrettably experiment with some, uhm, more exotic drinks than we perhaps should have...” Uncle Iroh said distantly, and trailed off with a weirdly nostalgic frown.

Zuko stared at him, and actually, on second thought, he _really_ didn't want to know anything more.

“Right.”

He imagined that even the Palace servants would've considered his attire beneath their standards - but whatever shady clothes from his past Uncle Iroh had dug up for him, they were certainly more practical than the thin silk robes he'd been wearing so far.

Uncle Iroh was appraising the clothes hanging loosely on him - they managed to be both several sizes too big and still too short, which made for a weird combination -

“Maybe if we tie it up a bit tighter -”

Uncle Iroh had finally found an old sash that was clearly too big for Zuko as well, but he tied it two times around Zuko's waist to keep the ensemble from falling apart - for now at least.

Uncle Iroh patted his arm amiably, and smiled proudly. 

"Looks much better. Now all you need is a pair of shoes, but I believe Chief Hakoda is kind enough to bring them."

Zuko just nodded at him shakily, really not looking forward to any of this... 

Everyone else seemed to be on edge too, which wasn't exactly reassuring, but at least he wasn't the only one. Uncle Iroh had mentioned Sozen's comet to him at some point, and of course Zuko had completely ignored the whole thing at first, since he _really_ wasn't in the mood for celebrating any kind of celestial events. 

But then, an increasing amount of visitors came to fetch his uncle somewhere, and they also started mentioning the comet as well. Zuko first heard them talking about a month - and then the tone of their voices noticeably changed when 'a month' turned into _'weeks'_ \-- and from the way they were talking, it was beginning to sound like a _literal_ deadline...

Uncle Iroh was looking at him again with that worried frown Zuko had seen many times before, and unnervingly probably the last one he'd seen after reassuring his uncle that he could handle the Agni Kai - and then instead completely disappeared from the world...

"Yeah, I'm ready," Zuko said, before his uncle could ask anything else. 

Uncle Iroh just nodded at him, "Make sure you stay with the Avatar, and very it's important you both keep out of sight. We'll find a way to contact you, and reach you as soon as we can."

Uncle Iroh then gave him a soft leather pouch, which was already tied close with a string, but clearly full of coins. Zuko didn't want to insult his uncle by asking how much there was, but from the heaviness he could take a pretty confident guess that it wasn't an insignificant amount...

"In case you and the other children need it. If at all possible, it would be best to avoid going to the public, but it is inevitable that some of you will need go to buy food and other supplies -"

"General Iroh? May we come in?"

The sudden unfamiliar voice came from the tent opening, and Zuko immediately jolted in alarm - but Uncle Iroh gave him a quick reassuring smile, and replied, 

"Of course, Chief Hakoda, please come in."

Zuko looked over cautiously as a man he vaguely recognized as Katara and Sokka's father entered the tent, followed by an older woman he'd never seen before. 

"Good morning, Lady Dusong, Chief Hakoda," Uncle Iroh said pleasantly. 

The woman bowed at them respectfully, much in the same manner as the seasoned nobility had whenever they'd visited the Royal Palace. 

But as she straightened up, she kept staring at him - far longer than any person of lower nobility would've been allowed to look directly at a member of the Royal Family. Had this been a formal greeting in the Royal Palace, she would've been permanently barred from any future visits.

"I'm glad to see you well, Prince Zuko," she said warmly, looking at him curiously and still not doing anything to hide it.

Chief Hakoda was looking at him too, and Zuko started to suspect that would be how everyone would react to him once he went outside... just the thought of that made him anxious, and he shifted slightly further back into the tent.

Now it seemed like they were all really going to be treating him like a member of the Royal Family, which was in stark contrast to before, but actually just felt more uncomfortable. At least he'd known how to react to people when they'd all assumed him to be a hostile prisoner, because that just made him mad, and he was _good_ at being mad -- he'd never been good at being the Fire Lord's son...

Zuko didn't acknowledge their visitors in any way, but he didn't really have to since Uncle Iroh was exchanging greetings with them and playing the welcoming host again.

"General Iroh," Lady Dusong said, and inclined her head slightly, "like you asked earlier, I have informed Chief Hakoda that Captain Sensho's ship was seen anchored near the Yajima harbor. However, I'm slightly concerned, since that was yesterday, and as for today - the situation might have changed..." 

"Of course, it is a possibility that they might have already left - " Uncle Iroh furrowed his brows.

Zuko looked at his uncle, pressing the coin pouch nervously against his chest. An encounter with the Fire Nation navy might mean that -- 

"Do - do they know we're here?" 

Uncle Iroh shook his head, "No, that's unlikely. Captain Sensho is very persistent, but he is also quite low-ranking, if they knew we were here, they definitely would have sent someone else. But it is still best for Chief Hakoda and his crew to leave early to avoid detection by the navy."

Chief Hakoda nodded, "We are waiting at the cove for now, and then leave before nightfall. The children will be leaving once it gets dark." Chief Hakoda looked over at Zuko, "And Prince Zuko, once you are ready, we will be returning to the ship together with them."

Zuko swallowed nervously, still holding tightly onto the heavy pouch.

"Very good," Uncle Iroh said, and smiled at him, "In fact, we just managed to find some suitable traveling clothes for Prince Zuko - though, admittedly we did have to improvise a little..."

"Yes, I can see that..." Lady Dusong raised her finely shaped eyebrow, and smiled, "what a creative choice for your nephew's outfit, General Iroh." She sounded amused, and Zuko wouldn't exactly call that a compliment, but of course his uncle graciously took it as one. 

Lady Dusong appraised him thoughtfully, tilting her head a little - and Zuko had stood through enough tailoring-sessions to know what that look meant. "Hmm, as it happens, I know a few tailors in Shuhon who would be absolutely thrilled to meet you, Prince Zuko. And one of them even farms her own toad-mollusks, which is quite unusual, but I think it would look lovely with your eyes, dear."

From the wide smile on her face, she seemed genuinely excited about that, and Zuko sighed - maybe she was one of those experimental types too, or at least knew people who were - 

"Uh, I guess that's okay..."

Lady Dusong smiled at him happily, but then glanced over sheepishly at the other two, who seemed to be less enthusiastic about do-it-yourself fashion farming. "Ah well, maybe that can wait for later..."

Uncle Iroh just smiled at her indulgently, before addressing a bemused looking Chief Hakoda,

"Chief Hakoda, I'm sure Lady Dusong has already informed you that we will be deviating from the original plan, now that Prince Zuko is here. Master Piandao, myself and a few others will accompany her to Shuhon Island. But the exact location where to meet again with Prince Zuko and the Avatar is still open - " he turned to Lady Dusong, "- if I've understood correctly?"

"Yes, that still depends on several factors, but I do have a preference for a few places -" Lady Dusong said, and turned to Zuko. "Prince Zuko, are you familiar with the Hanhu Mountain range in southern Shuhon?"

"Um, I know of it --"

"It's near the coast, which is quite a lovely area, however the mountains have very steep cliffs and I hear they are notoriously hard to cross - but of course, nothing is unreachable for someone with a sky bison..." she smiled at him, eyes crinkling warmly. "If you stay on the mountain range, the chances of being accidentally spotted are low, so I believe you children will be very safe there. But towards the inland there are some small towns, and I would like you to stay closer to a town called Ganmei, it is the most convenient location for me to contact you later." 

Lady Dusong looked at Uncle Iroh and Chief Hakoda, "I would estimate that we will be able to reach the port nearest to Ganmei in about a week -" she turned back to Zuko, "but once you arrive, please don't worry, as long as you stay on Hanhu Mountains, we will find you."

"Uhm, okay..." Zuko nodded, and felt really the opposite of not-worried.

Lady Dusong lifted her hand slightly like she was going to pat his arm, but then hesitantly withdrew it and instead just smiled reassuringly. "Despite these bleak circumstances, I hope we will be wiser then than today. Please keep safe, Prince Zuko, I'm very much looking forward to meeting you and your friends again."

She bowed at them again respectfully, though noticeably less refined now, and excused herself.

Chief Hakoda stayed behind in the tent, hovering hesitantly before turning to Zuko and holding out a pair of leather moccasins for him -

"Prince Zuko, one of our youngest warriors, Asla - um, you've met him already actually - he gave these for you."

Zuko had no idea who 'Asla' was, nor did he remember meeting any members of the water tribe before - other than the ones who were dragging him to the camp... But still, he took the shoes from Chief Hakoda with a quietly muttered 'thank you'.

Chief Hakoda smiled at him a little, "They might be a size too large, but there are strings to fasten them." Then he glanced between Zuko and his uncle, and Zuko sighed, already knowing what he was going to say.

"Uh, Prince Zuko, did General Iroh ask you -"

"Yeah --" he replied sullenly.

Chief Hakoda looked at Uncle Iroh, who smiled warmly, "Thank you for your help on this, Chief Hakoda."

"Of course, it's no problem," Chief Hakoda answered, and nodded to Zuko, "We do indeed have a healer on our ship, a waterbender from the Northern Water Tribe, who came with us for the previous battle. He would be glad to make sure you are in a good condition to travel, Prince Zuko."

He frowned, so not just water tribe, but a _waterbender_ too...

Uncle Iroh turned to Zuko, "You don't need to tell the healer anything you don't want to, but being honest with him would be the most helpful for you. We all want you to feel better."

Zuko just nodded, still scowling. 

As they left the tent and passed through the White Lotus camp, he continued to scowl even more. He was already anxious about the whole situation, and it wasn't made easier by everyone's attention on him - after his first meeting with the Avatar, he'd only been out of the tent a few brief times and always made sure that as few people as possible saw him. 

But now, it was almost midday and clear daylight. Everyone was out and walking about, seemingly packing their things and preparing to disassemble the tents --

\- and turning to look at Zuko as he walked past them, eyes staying on him long enough to make him feel uncomfortably self-conscious. 

Zuko was so intent on ignoring everyone that it took him a moment to realize that one of the people approaching them was Master Piandao -

He immediately stepped back behind his uncle, mortified. Master Piandao was a highly respected and a truly legendary swordsman, and Zuko still remembered how awed he'd been by the swordmaster during his first lesson. But then, his training had abruptly ended after only a few lessons, and Zuko highly doubted his mother had ever given Master Piandao a reason for that - maybe he'd just assumed that Zuko hadn't been good enough to keep up with him anymore...

It was humiliating enough just knowing all his own failures - but even more humiliating when faced with someone who had once expected great things from him, and could now plainly see how he'd never achieved any of them...

"Master Piandao, I'm glad to see you," Uncle Iroh said, "I was hoping you could greet my nephew before he leaves - it must be quite a few years since your last meeting -" 

Zuko didn't trust his voice to say anything, but it would've been extremely disrespectful not to do anything, so he had no choice but to step forward and bow nervously to his old swordmaster. 

"Yes, I was hoping to see Prince Zuko as well - it really has been a long while, hasn't it..." Master Piandao said evenly, scrutinizing him. Zuko tried to will himself to make eye-contact, but couldn't and quickly averted his gaze to the ground. "Prince Zuko, you were training with the dao-swords, if I remember correctly - a very fine and challenging choice of weapon."

"Uhm -" Zuko said shakily, "yeah, that - that was a long time ago..."

"Once we have more time, I'm sure Master Piandao would be glad to help you revise your training," Uncle Iroh said gently to him.

"Yes, of course," Master Piandao said. He was smiling, but he had always been uncomfortably sharp with his observations, and Zuko dreaded to think how he appeared to Master Piandao now - "As a matter of fact, there is another one of my students here in this camp. I did retire from teaching several years ago, but I made an exception for him - and I am glad I did, he was a very determined student and a promising swordsman. Perhaps you could practise together with him, Prince Zuko?"

"What an excellent idea, Master Piandao," Uncle Iroh said, and turned to Zuko, "It is lucky you both will be traveling together -"

Zuko had a very bad feeling about who he was referring to, and it got even worse when Master Piandao led them out of the camp to a clearing where he saw the Avatar, his friends and their noisy pets - all ready to leave it seemed...

Katara and Sokka were talking with Chief Hakoda - and Zuko quickly looked away from them. Toph was already sitting on the saddle, smiling secretly to herself as she often seemed to do, but thankfully didn't say anything.

The Avatar, on the other hand, skipped over to Zuko with an ear-to-ear wide grin plastered on his face, and bowed hastily enough to almost stumble over the glider he was holding, "We're all ready to go, Sifu Prince Zuko!!"

Zuko just looked at him blankly, but the Avatar had already turned his blinding grin and wobbly bows towards Uncle Iroh and Master Piandao.

Then Sokka came over to greet Master Piandao as well, grinning as widely as the Avatar had a second ago - 

_Oh no..._

"Master Piandao, great to see you before we leave!" Sokka said enthusiastically, seemingly first going for a hug, but then choosing to bow earnestly to Master Piandao instead. And then a second later hugging him anyway.

Zuko frowned, and glared at them sourly - how did that annoying water tribe boy ever get to be on such friendly terms with someone as famously stoic and strict as Master Piandao. 

"I'm glad to see you too, Sokka," Master Piandao smiled indulgently, and then turned towards Zuko, "and I'm very pleased that two of my former trainees can now join their forces and hone their skills together to become all the more stronger."

Zuko grimaced, and his shoulders sagged as they all turned to look at him - apparently the humiliation was never-ending... 

"Eh?" Sokka frowned, and glanced quickly a few times between Master Piandao and Zuko, "Wait? You taught sword-fighting to Prince Zuko too??" 

"Several years ago, yes," Master Piandao replied, "Prince Zuko was learning the art of dao-swords when he was a child - I was hoping that you could help him revise his training and practise together."

Sokka kept staring at him, and Zuko scowled in annoyance - 

"But you're a firebender, why would you need to train sword-fighting too?" Sokka asked and tilted his head slightly, like that was actually bothering him. "Isn't that kind of unnecessary?" 

" _Because I wasn't good at firebending, THAT'S WHY!!_ " Zuko snapped at him, and quickly turned away from the wide-eyed alarmed expression he got in return -

"Zuko --" Uncle Iroh said. 

“Uncle, please let's not talk about this,” Zuko muttered quietly, pleading him to understand.

Uncle Iroh looked at him worriedly again, but didn't say anything. Neither did anyone else, and they really didn't need to anyway, since their awkward silence told him enough already. 

Zuko could feel his cheeks burning with shame, but he had no interest in explaining himself to any of them, and he waited until the kids went back to their bison with Chief Hakoda and Master Piandao.

He exhaled shakily and apparently failed to conceal his growing panic, since his uncle casually led him aside. Uncle Iroh kept lightly holding his arm, and Zuko took a deep breath to calm down, and cleared his choked throat -

"So, uhm - so you'll be there in a week?"

"Yes, we will be there," Uncle Iroh assured him. "I'm not very familiar with that area of the island, but I trust Lady Dusong to have reliable sources, and I'm sure you can wait there safely. One of us will contact you as soon as possible, but in the meanwhile, it is very important that you and the Avatar keep yourself safe and hidden."

Zuko nodded, and pressed the heavy leather pouch tighter against his chest. He glanced over at the Avatar, explaining something very animatedly to Katara and Chief Hakoda. 

"What about - the - the firebending -"

Uncle Iroh was looking at them too, and sighed a little, "We will see what the situation is when we meet again."

Zuko turned to his uncle, exasperated, "But if even you couldn't teach him firebending, how could I do that??"

"I'm positive you can," Uncle Iroh said with certainty, and then continued with noticeably less certainty, "but as to how - I'm not sure either..."

"He can't even make any fire yet, and he's supposed to _master_ firebending - in what, two - three weeks??" Zuko groaned in frustration, "How is that even possible??" 

"It will be, for the Avatar," Uncle Iroh said. He was studying Zuko closely, "You know, the Avatar has been asking for you many times - he is very adamant in his belief that he was supposed to meet you."

"And what does that mean?"

"The Avatar instinctively knows many things that span generations - I think it was your fate to meet him too, Prince Zuko," Uncle Iroh said, and then sighed looking at Aang petting his bison, "Unfortunately, during the past hundred years much of the wisdom of the Air Nomads has been lost - or more specifically _erased_. But now, maybe some of it has returned..."

Zuko frowned at that - and it didn't really make him feel any more confident at all. He turned to look over as the Avatar said goodbye to Master Piandao, then jumped on top of the saddle without noticing that Sokka had also turned to wave goodbye to the swordmaster - there was a loud yelp, they both fell off the saddle and disappeared out of sight. After a second Sokka's indignant _"AGAIN??"_ cried out from the other side of the bison.

Uncle Iroh hummed at the following squabbling sounds thoughtfully, and Zuko sighed heavily.

Then Uncle Iroh turned to look at him, and Zuko bit his lip, averting his eyes, even though they definitely weren't getting watery... His uncle smiled a little sadly, and hugged him with one arm around his shoulders. Zuko could smell the annoying jasmine tea again, and what if this was the last time --

"This is not a goodbye," Uncle Iroh said soothingly, "we will see again soon, Prince Zuko." 

Zuko nodded - but as usual, the unsaid _if nothing bad happens_ was hanging heavily in the air - and bad things _always_ happened...

* * *

The kumquat-crabfish stew was steaming over the open fire, and there was a homey smell drifting in the breezy seaside air.

Katara had parked herself on the sun-warmed sand next to the cauldron, and consequently she'd also been appointed the stew server. Now she stirred it with a wooden soup-ladle for the fifth time, while Sokka was eagerly awaiting his third refill. 

Some of the ship crew had gone fishing early that morning, and brought back a large haul of fish. Now everything was freshly prepared, and Katara hadn't seen an array of seafood like this since they had left home almost a year ago. Based on Sokka's expression, he was feeling as homesick as she was -

"Okay, as much as I loved the Fire Nation dishes - this is still the best, dad," Sokka said, slurping on his stew, "nothing beats Water Tribe food."

"Eh..." Aang said, picking at his bowl of kumquats, where they leisurely floated around in a murky seaweed soup, "It's okay, I guess..."

"Not to your taste, Avatar?" Bato asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Aang grinned sheepishly at him. He picked another squishy kumquat with his chopsticks, and slurped it slowly with a painstakingly forced smile as Bato stared at him suspiciously.

After Bato had turned away to talk to Sokka, Katara went to Aang's rescue, "Just pour them in my bowl," she whispered. "I saved some leftover rice buns from breakfast, you can eat them later."

Aang smiled at her with beaming adoration. "Thank you, Katara," he whispered back, "you're the best!"

Katara felt a sharp poke in her ribs. "I call dibs on the buns too," Toph said, and made a face at her bowl.

"Ugh, you two, it's not THAT bad," Katara rolled her eyes. 

Toph scrunched up her nose, "Yeah, I don't know how you guys can eat the kumquats, because if they look as bad as they feel - eugh."

"Yeah..." Aang agreed. 

Katara sighed heavily.

"So, dad, can I ask you for a favor?" Sokka said in a barely comprehensible mumble while still chewing his food. Katara glared at him, and he swallowed with an abashed grin.

"Uh, sure thing, Sokka."

"You guys will be going through the southern sea anyway, so could you stop by Kyoshi Island?" Sokka asked, and mixed his bowl with the chopsticks absently. "I haven't seen Suki and the others for a long time, so I'm kind of worried... I was thinking it'd be great if you could pick up the Kyoshi Warriors on the way back here - we could really use their help in the second attack."

"Oh, Suki, huh?" Hakoda said, and glanced at Katara. She nodded with a confirming smile. "Of course, we'll go and pick up the Kyoshi Warriors, provided they are still there."

"They should be - but even if Suki is not there," Sokka said with a worried frown, "you could still take the others along. They're really good fighters and we need everyone we can get."

Ragnur nodded, sitting next to Sokka, "Yes, I've heard of them too. I heard they're all women, though, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are," Sokka glared at him, "you got a problem with that?" 

Ragnur shrugged, "No, nope, no problem. Just confirming rumors."

"Right..." Sokka narrowed his eyes at Ragnur, but didn't say anything else. Then he turned back to Hakoda, "Anyway, Suki is the best, so hopefully you can find her and bring her along."

Katara ate her own stew absently, and listened to Sokka and some of the other warriors first jokingly talking about all the different dishes they'd tried on their travels and how they compared to Water Tribe food - and then increasingly heatedly debating how to actually prepare those dishes. She only shook her head at their cooking theories, which she could've debunked in a few seconds, but at least for now preferred not to since it seemed like at the moment no one was burdened with the war or upcoming battles. Even Aang was smiling and seemed noticeably less anxious now.

But she was a bit sad that she couldn't feel - or at least pretend to feel - as lighthearted as the others. Today they'd have to say goodbye to their dad and the other Water Tribe members, and it would take over three weeks before they could meet again - and _a lot_ could go wrong in that time...

Katara sighed heavily, and Hakoda glanced at her troubled expression.

"Are you worried?"

"Well, there _is_ a lot to worry about..." Katara said, maybe a little _too_ bitterly - but her dad didn't seem to mind, and he just sighed as well -

"Yes, there is, too much. And it never stops troubling me that you and your friends are much too young for this - you should not have to be fighting for your lives, or the lives of millions of others, at your age..." 

"We have no choice," Katara said firmly. "I mean, I know we have the choice to do nothing - but I'm _never_ going to choose that."

"I know, Katara, and as regretful this situation is - I couldn't be prouder."

He sounded maybe somewhat more regretful or sorrowful rather than proud, but it's not like Katara could really blame him for that.

Her eyes were drawn to the ocean again - the Water Tribe ship was anchored in a tranquil little cove and the calm waters around it were reflecting the soft colors of the sky brightly. There was so much light and fresh air surrounding them that while Katara might have been mentally troubled, physically she felt energized - if there was something good about spending time in the Fire Nation archipelago, it was that the ocean was almost always somewhere nearby. She didn't have to travel far from inland on any of the islands, when she could already start to feel the unwaveringly constant push and pull of the ocean waves. 

For a moment, she stared at the waves that reached the shore of the cove, lost in her thoughts. There were fluffy tufts of white sea foam riding along the waters that slid over the beach smoothly, and left behind a neatly lined darkened strip of sand, redefining it over and over again...

She turned her head slightly to look over at the lone figure slowly wandering along the shore line.

Hakoda was looking at him too -

"Hmm, so I take it that your new team member isn't going to eat with us?"

Katara nodded wearily, "I did tell him earlier that he was welcome to eat with us, or take any food with him that he liked. But, well - he didn't say anything, but I think he probably didn't want to come here, where everyone else is..."

Hakoda looked at him thoughtfully, and then turned back to Katara. 

"Then perhaps we should take some food to him --" Hakoda furrowed his brows and glanced at the ship. "I have to say I'm still not entirely sure how to convince him to board the ship, or if he's willing to go to see the healer at all..."

"I don't know," Katara replied, frowning too, "But, I think it'd be really important for him to go, though..."

Hakoda hummed a little in agreement. He reached over to take a clean bowl and filled it with rice, and then grabbed a few freshly fried fishsticks and salted seaweed, wrapping them in paper along with a pair of chopsticks.

Aang looked up at them curiously, and Katara nodded in Prince Zuko's direction. Aang glanced at him too, and then smiled a little and mouthed 'oh okay' as Katara and Hakoda left to walk along the shoreline. 

As they followed a trail of fading footsteps ahead of them, Katara frowned down at the wet sand under her feet, feeling troubled.

She hesitated, biting her lip, before asking - "Dad, I was thinking - about what you and Bato said before -"

Hakoda glanced at her, waiting -

"I mean, hearing about Prince Zuko's death," Katara continued uneasily. "Now he knows that everyone thought he was dead - and well, he must also have realized that a lot of people wanted him to stay that way. I guess, well, I know _why_ that would've been better for us, and all of those the Fire Nation has harmed..." Her head was buzzing anxiously, and she frowned, "But it just - feels _wrong_... to - well, to not care..."

"It's good that it feels wrong to you," Hakoda said. "I'd be more worried if you felt it was right."

"Yeah, I suppose so..." Katara sighed, and glanced at Prince Zuko, who was now watching them tensely, which was clear even from the distance.

Hakoda hummed thoughtfully, looking at the prince too, "And you do care now, because you know, right? You know the truth." He turned back to Katara, who nodded uncertainly. "And I have to say it seems significant to me that in your team - among you and your friends, there is now one of you from each nation."

"Yeah, we actually didn't really know any kids from the Fire Nation before," Katara agreed, and then huffed a little in amusement, "well, aside from meeting Aang's classmates when he threw an illegal dance party for them..."

Hakoda raised his eyebrow at her, and she shrugged. 

"Uh, yeah, probably wasn't the best idea - and Aang got kicked out of school, but he was pretty sure he was going to drop out anyway," Katara smiled. "But at least the Fire Nation students seemed to enjoy it..."

Hakoda smiled too, "I'll take your word for it." He nodded a little sadly, and then continued - "But yes, it's very important that you know someone now - sometimes it changes everything."

Katara glanced up at him, and Hakoda sighed tiredly, "Fighting against people wears a lot heavier on your mind than fighting against faceless armies - which is not something you can afford during a war... so for many years, it was better not to know who they were - not as soldiers, but as _people_..." he looked back at Katara, and gave her a little smile, "- though, I'm sure that sounds wrong to you as well..."

"Well, maybe, but I know that's because you care about others, dad," Katara said firmly, she felt very certain about that. But she also felt certain about something else too, and added darkly, "But we've met a lot of people who don't seem to think that's a problem at all..."

"Yes, there are those," Hakoda sighed wearily, "and unfortunately they are usually the ones who aim to remove names and faces from other people in the first place - that makes it easier, not just for them, but for everyone..."

Katara frowned heavily, uncomfortably aware of all the people gathered around behind them, the person grimly watching their approach, and even her own feet that seemed to sink deeper into the sand on every step. She was suddenly very glad that the wind had taken away their voices, and harmlessly scattered the words over the endless waters of the ocean...

The closer they got, the more visibly anxious Prince Zuko appeared to become - but as he was standing unshaken by the restless wind, Katara had to admit that there was still something very distinctly - regal about him. Maybe that was something so innately woven that despite the threadbare clothes, and the haphazard hair-do, and well, despite _everything_ \- that steely pride and defiance never seemed to waiver. 

And she could certainly understand the unyielding desperation to cling onto whatever shreds of inner value you managed to guard, while everything else seemed to fall apart around you...

Katara and Hakoda stopped a few paces away, carefully leaving several empty footprints between them and Prince Zuko.

His hand curled up into a fist on his side, and he was still tightly clutching the coin pouch he'd brought with him too, apparently not trusting anyone else with it. He looked ready to either fight or run away, but stood his ground - expression weirdly grim, as if facing an entire battalion rather than just a father and a daughter bringing him some lunch. 

Katara cleared her throat nervously, not sure what kind of reaction they would be getting -

"Hey, uh, we thought you might be hungry, and we brought you some food, if you'd like to try it? It's probably best to eat something before we leave, since it's going to be a long night ahead..."

Hakoda opened the wrapped paper partially, and smiled warmly, "I bet you've never had Southern Water Tribe -style fishsticks before - and Jaaku is an expert at grilling them, so this is a good chance to give them a try..."

Hakoda stepped closer, holding out the wrap and the rice bowl to him expectantly - Prince Zuko stared cautiously at them for a moment, before hesitantly accepting the food. He seemed to have some sort of internal debate with himself, because it took a few off-beats before he finally responded with a quiet 'thank you'.

"And um, of course, if you want, you are welcome to come and eat with us by the fire too," Katara said carefully. She saw Prince Zuko tense up immediately, and quickly amended - "But if you feel uncomfortable sitting there with everyone else, maybe dad and I could also -"

"No, I'll eat alone." 

"Okay, that's - that's fine too..." 

Katara smiled in a way she hoped looked reassuring, but his expression only got tighter and instead of looking at them, he returned to staring at somewhere in the middle distance of the seashore.

Katara looked up at her dad, who was observing Prince Zuko silently, and she nudged his elbow a little. 

Hakoda cleared his throat subtly, and asked, "I was wondering if you had thought about your uncle's suggestion earlier, about seeing the healer?From what I've understood, it might ensure a less painful journey for you, so I hope you'll consider it..."

Prince Zuko didn't seem to find that encouraging at all, since his face suddenly flushed red and he dipped his head down, seemingly embarrassed.

Katara jumped in for quick damage control, trying to sound reassuring again, "Uh, we'll have to go to the ship, but there are not many people there yet and I promise you don't need to talk to anyone else, if you don't want to. And I'm sure it won't take long, we don't have that much time anyway..."

Prince Zuko looked back up at them, worrying his lip, and shifted his eyes to stare at the ship instead. Thankfully the ship appeared to be calmer and quieter than it usually did, now that most of the crew was still outside on the shore together. 

After a moment, he glanced briefly back at Katara and then away, looking very tired but nodding -

"Yeah, fine, I'll go..."

Katara smiled at him - despite the unsurprisingly unenthusiastic reply, she felt genuinely relieved that he'd agreed to it so quickly.

"That's great," she said sincerely, "I'm sure it'll be worthwhile."

Hakoda seemed relieved too, "I'm very glad to hear that as well - and also, as we're going to part our ways today, for now at least, I wanted to thank you for helping my children with this enormous task that they've faced with. Though, I can't say that I'm not going to be worried about your safety -" he turned to Katara, "- the safety of all you kids..."

"We'll be fine, dad," Katara assured him, like she always did, usually to no effect. "We've managed to keep Aang - uh, well, mostly safe for almost a year - I'm sure we can keep Aang and Prince Zuko safe for the next couple of weeks too."

Prince Zuko didn't say anything to that, and only looked withdrawn again - by all appearances he seemed to be done with their conversation.

Suddenly they heard an echoing burst of laughter around the cove - and they all turned to look towards the large campfire, where it seemed like the warriors were raucously recalling and apparently even re-enacting some battletales, albeit in a more humorous way than usual. Katara saw a glimpse of Aang sitting next to Sokka, and she was happy that he seemed to be laughing along with everyone else - like he was one of them now too...

"They seem to be having fun," Katara smiled fondly, "it almost feels like back at home..."

"Yes, it does..."

Hakoda was smiling too, the proud smile of a captain looking over his crew - it wasn't that dissimilar to the look he always gave her and Sokka when they'd impressed him with something.

Prince Zuko, however, seemed far less happy, as he quietly observed their tribe members and then looked down at the food he was holding. He shifted uncomfortably and his expression definitely looked even more distraught than usual.

Hakoda turned to him, explaining - "You know, we usually have dinner together with the whole village, it's an important moment to share in many ways. The conditions in the South Pole can be very harsh and unforgiving, especially as our resources are not what they used to be... When you're constantly surrounded by ice and deathly coldness, food is often scarce and obtaining it can be potentially fatal, so those moments when you finally get to sit down and share stories and dreams over a joint meal with others - they become all the more valuable.." 

Hakoda kept his eyes on Prince Zuko, who was staring at the ground again - "I'm sure you have those too..."

Prince Zuko frowned at him, "What?"

"Stories and dreams."

Zuko turned his face away from them, clenching his jaw tensely - 

"No. I don't."

" _Everyone_ has them," Katara said emphatically.

Prince Zuko didn't reply. His brows were still deeply furrowed, and eyes now stubbornly glued to the distant horizon of the ocean - it looked like he was almost aggressively trying to ignore them, and Katara looked up at her dad uneasily.

"Hmm, you know, there was still something I was meaning to ask -" Hakoda said, he was studying Prince Zuko closely and didn't seem to be discouraged by the dubious glance he got thrown his way "- about that, uh, farm-thing - toad-mollusks was it -?"

Katara frowned in confusion, while Hakoda just kept silently looking at the typically tight-lipped Prince Zuko - but as the heavy quiet stretched on, after a moment Prince Zuko finally sighed - and to Katara's surprise he seemed to know exactly what Hakoda was talking about -

"It's an expensive fabric dye for silk," he said wearily. "Um, I mean, once you squash the - uh..."

"Oh," Hakoda said, scratching his chin a little, "hmm, so - what kind of color -"

"Uhh - elusive golden purple." 

Hakoda frowned, "Huh - that's what it's called -?"

Zuko shrugged, "Something like that..."

"Hmmm..."

He sighed again, "Yeah, _I know_..."

Katara frowned, even more confused, but her dad just nodded and smiled slightly.

"Uh, well," Katara said to Prince Zuko, "you can take your time, and once you've eaten, we'll come and take you to the healer." She smiled encouragingly, "I'm very glad that you agreed to see him."

Prince Zuko didn't reply anymore, he was looking down at the food he was holding and obviously waiting for them to leave him alone.

Katara wasn't sure if she was feeling any more or less troubled as she had on the way there - but as they walked back to the others along the beach, she turned to her dad, frowning again - 

"Uh, so what's elusive golden purple?"

Hakoda shrugged, "Apparently it matches his eyes."

* * *

"You know, I've healed plenty of burn wounds from battles before - " the healer glanced at Zuko briefly, before sprinkling more powdered herbs in his bowl, "but I suppose that's not the case here..."

Zuko just drew his mouth in a tighter line, and assumed that didn't need an answer.

The healer - called Tanuk apparently - seemed to think so too, since he just nodded and continued mixing whatever he'd thrown in the bowl again. Zuko remained quiet, and at least the healer seemed pretty happy just talking by himself without getting any answers.

The healer was a tall man, like many others in the water tribe seemed to be, and his hair was already graying, but otherwise he didn't look that old - more like years of seafaring had left him so weather-beaten even the colors had drained out of him. He could probably seamlessly switch from one rickety old wooden ship to another, and look like he'd just always been there.

Zuko on the other hand, _really_ didn't want to be there. 

There was a dusty oil lamp hanging on the wall, swaying slightly along with the waves, and Zuko tried to blank out his mind, only concentrating on staring at the little flame flickering inside the murky glass. He could feel the rocking of the waves beneath his bare feet too. The creaking floorboards in the wooden ship were suspiciously loose, and noisy - how they could sail half the world in this - _thing_ , he had no idea. 

He supposed at least it'd be hard to sneak around the ship unnoticed. 

As if that wasn't enough, there was a weird smell in the small cabin as well, which Zuko assumed came from the healer's myriad herb collection with suspiciously many clashing scents...

The healer seemed to have noticed Zuko's scrunched up frown, and smirked slightly, "I know it smells bad, but don't worry, no one's complained about the smell after this stuff kicks in..." 

He explained something more about the salve he was mixing, something about oils and herbal plants - Zuko listened blankly and if asked, he probably couldn't remember a word of it. Finally the healer placed an elaborately carved wooden bowl of clear water on the floor, next to where Zuko was sitting, and he couldn't ignore the man anymore when Tanuk crouched down right in front of him. 

Tanuk smiled at him a little, and Zuko shifted nervously, realizing that now there was nowhere for his eyes to escape.

The healer checked the wounds on his feet and legs first, frowning deeply. Zuko winced as Tanuk lifted up his bare foot, where the skin had broken during their walk to the camp. Uncle Iroh had bandaged his feet later on, but that hadn't done much with the pain...

"Hmmm..." Tanuk looked up at Zuko again, "Healing with water is probably not going to help much with the old scars anymore, but at least new injuries will heal faster and won't make the old ones worse. Also, the salve will act as pain relief as well - in fact, I'll set some aside now, so that you can take the rest of it with you."

Zuko watched tensely for a moment as Tanuk used some kind of wooden spoon to divide his weird herb mixture into two bowls, and then applied some of the salve together with the clear water from the bowl to his feet - the water glowed slightly before it disappeared in a few seconds under Tanuk's hands.

The bluish glow was kind of mesmerizing to watch, and Zuko startled a little when the healer spoke again and asked conversationally -

"So, how old are you now?" Seeing his blank look, Tanuk added, "Do you know -?"

Zuko stared at the man, far longer than he should for that kind of question, and then flushed with embarrassment, since that really should've been something he could answer without hesitation - 

"Uhm, sixteen, I guess..."

Tanuk just hummed noncommittally. 

It only took a few quiet beats before he continued in his casual tone, "You know, when Chief Hakoda and his daughter brought you here, I noticed they're doing that thing with you - "

Zuko furrowed his brows at him - the healer looked up from what he was doing and smiled -

"That 'stay here, don't go there, wait for us' -thing, you know?"

Zuko nodded cautiously, knowing a little too well... 

Tanuk smiled knowingly as well, and continued applying more of his herbal salve - 

"No, I just noticed it, because recently people tend to do the same thing with me too. After I left the North Pole, wherever I go I'm usually the only one around who can heal with waterbending - and there's not a single damn place in this world where people don't get injured or sick all the time, so, you know, they've figured out I'm pretty useful," Tanuk chuckled a little ruefully. "Then everyone suddenly wanted to keep me out of harm's way, because frankly, if I die, it's not easy to find a replacement for me."

That sounded depressingly familiar and Zuko frowned deeply at him, but Tanuk just smiled and shook his head -

"Well, I'd probably do the same thing if I were them," Tanuk shrugged, but his amused smile seemed a little more strained now, "but it's so damn frustrating sometimes, I mean, what can you do, it's not like you can really complain either - I'm sure you know well..."

"Yeah..." Zuko couldn't help sighing heavily, and apparently noticeably since the healer chuckled at that. 

"Probably hell of a lot more frustrating for you. You're still young, and your societal status is - well, let's say _unique_. At least there are other waterbenders in the world..." Tanuk said, biting his lip in concentration as he scraped the last of the mixture from the bowl, and then continued with a small shrug - "Honestly, I don't know what the alternative would be, maybe there's a better one or maybe there isn't, but I know a lot of people are an absolute pain in the ass even in less demanding roles."

Tanuk set the empty bowl aside, next to the unused mixture, and looked up at Zuko -

"So, all things considering," he said, smiling a little again, "I'd say you're doing pretty well." 

Zuko bit his lip and nodded, letting out a shaky breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding. And then he realized his feet felt kind of numb again, but in a good way this time.

After Tanuk had wrapped some light gauze around his feet, he straightened up and tilted his head slightly -

"Feel any better?"

"Yeah - I do, actually..." Zuko said and looked up at the healer, surprised that he could actually answer that honestly.

"Good, very good. The gauze will keep the salve in place, so you can put your shoes on now." Tanuk waited until Zuko had done that - then he nodded a little towards him again, asking more cautiously this time, "I believe there was something else too -?"

Zuko hesitated - at least the burns on his legs might have seemed like some kind of a firebending accident, but there was no way that the scars around his arms were anything other than intentionally inflicted, looking exactly like the permanently imprinted ghostly shackles they were. And he really didn't want to talk about that at all, with anyone...

The healer was still waiting, unusually quietly, clearly expecting some kind of answer --

Not knowing what else to do, and not wanting to start explaining anything either, Zuko hesitantly pulled back the oversized robe sleeve and showed his right arm to the healer. Tanuk crouched down again, and took a hold of his arm lightly. He turned it around, and then lifted his eyebrows a little when his fingers fell into the burned furrows in the scarred skin. He looked uneasy and let go off Zuko's arm, before briefly inspecting the other arm as well.

Zuko grimaced a little, nervous about what he was going to ask -

Tanuk frowned to himself for a moment, before looking up at Zuko, who kept his mouth closed in a tight line - message clear, he hoped.

"How long have you had these?"

Zuko shifted uncomfortably, "Uhh, a couple of years, I guess..."

Tanuk rocked a little on his heels, before standing back up again. 

"Hmm, not that it's any of my business, but uh - Chief Hakoda told me you were in prison?" Tanuk asked uncertainly. "Is that correct?"

It was actually painful how correct and incorrect that was at the same time, but Zuko just gave him a small nod.

"And you got these during your imprisonment?" Tanuk asked, still frowning. Maybe he just thought this was normal for Fire Nation prisons, but whatever his assumptions were, Zuko didn't feel like commenting on them, so he just nodded slightly again.

Tanuk scratched his head a little, but then sighed as Zuko looked away from him, "Uh, well, I'm sure that hurt like hell, but there's probably not much I can do about them anymore, not in such a short time in any case. But do they still bother you - I mean, is it painful to move your hands, or -?"

"No - I guess not... not anymore..." Zuko shrugged, eyes fixing on the dusty oil lamp again - and even if it was, he was used to that already anyway.

"Hmm... well, alright, like I said, there's nothing much I can do about those, but if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask Katara. She's a very capable healer too. And I'll find you a container for the salve..."

Tanuk filled a little jar with the leftover mixture, and kept chattering, asking him questions and seemed to be satisfied with Zuko's clipped answers, since he didn't try to pry further on any of them. He was talking something about nutrition and foods he'd recommend, when they both realized that there were suddenly many more people on the ship - the old wooden boards really weren't quiet...

Zuko got up nervously, and glanced at the healer.

Tanuk frowned towards the door, "Seems like something is happening..."

And sure enough, just a second later Katara opened the door - 

"Uh, sorry to bother you, but we have to leave now - it looks like there are some other ships nearby." 

Tanuk nodded grimly, before giving a fraught little smile at them both -

"Take care, you two -"

"We will, thank you for your help, Tanuk," Katara said, sounding rushed, and held the door open for Zuko - but he hesitated and turned to look back at the healer -

"Uh, thank you..."

Tanuk smiled and nodded, though with noticeably less levity than just a moment ago.

Zuko couldn't see Chief Hakoda anymore as they left, and Katara didn't say anything else either, just gave him a quick concerned glance as she led him back outside. The evening dusk was almost over, and now a fiery red sunset outlined the entire horizon over the ocean. The crewmen had lit up various oil lamps around the deck, and the little spots of light were swaying unsteadily as people hurried around the deck, readying the sails. 

It would get dark soon, and by now it seemed like almost everyone was already on board. Sokka was waiting for them with a large bag in his arms, holding onto it like it was going to collapse on him at any second. He glanced at the sky bison hovering nearby, and then back at Katara and Zuko. 

"Hurry up, Katara! Aang and Toph are already waiting for us!"

Before they departed the ship, Zuko looked over at the horizon - and there against the darkening sky, he could make out two small spots of light, which seemed to be heading their way. 

It was still too far to say whether the lights came from fishing boats or Fire Navy ships - but if he could see those lights clearly all the way from the island, surely the people on those ships could also see them -- feeling a little creeped out, he hurried after Katara and an impatiently frowning Sokka...

* * *

The lights of the Water Tribe ship were crawling along the sea considerably slower than Appa was going, but it seemed like they could get away safely - even if there was always that terrifying little doubt... 

They'll be _fine_ , his dad was always fine. Sokka couldn't do anything more for them anyway, so now he just had to concentrate on getting Team Avatar plus One to safety first. 

Sokka turned back to the others, and glanced down at the map he'd gotten from his dad. He frowned and looked up at the other passengers again, suddenly going through several flashbacks - well, at least two anyway - and realizing that this was a weirdly familiar situation now... 

Toph was holding onto Sokka's arm, annoyed as usual, while Aang was steering Appa, and Katara had found herself a blanket and curled up with Momo warming her lap, and well, nothing weird there -

\-- but then, once again, there was Prince Zuko sullenly and silently leaning against the saddle's edge, distinctly separate from the rest of them and very noticeably not looking at anyone - and it was starting to look like this was going to be their new normal setting. 

Sokka swallowed nervously, he really didn't know at all what to say to Prince Zuko and decided to ignore him for now - which was probably what he wanted them to do anyway, so win/win as far as Sokka was concerned...

"So, which direction are we heading, Sokka?" Aang asked over his shoulder.

Sokka looked at the map - "Lady Dusong asked us to go to Shuhon Island and find the Hanhu Mountain range, so I'm guessing we should head towards northeast first." 

He checked his compass to make sure they were in the right direction, and nodded to Aang - "Yeah, if you just keep Appa going towards north, we should reach Shuhon in a few hours, and then go along the coast towards east until we find the mountain range, or you know, something like that -"

"Okay, got it!"

Aang returned to steering Appa, and Sokka took a deep breath. There wasn't much else to do now but wait - they were going to be flying for at least half the night, unless Appa needed to make an emergency snooze-stop somewhere on the way.

Katara gave him a pointed look, she glanced sideways at Prince Zuko, tilting her head a little, and then back at Sokka. He shrugged at her, shaking his head - what did she want him to do anyway? Just casually engage the cranky prince in some _oh-so-natural_ small talk about the weather? Or better yet, catch him up on the hottest new scandals on the Fire Nation fashion scene? 

After everything, Sokka highly doubted the prince had any warm fuzzy feelings towards him.... And while Sokka was willing to make peace with Prince Zuko, since - however reluctantly - he was going to be around helping them anyway, but it's not like Sokka _wanted_ to volunteer to get into another snappy argument with him.

Sokka sighed, and tried to decipher from Prince Sparky's hunched shoulders how unlikely it'd be to get a reply from him - and yeah, that posture was definitely leaning heavily towards _don't even think about it_ , but considering how long they were going to be stuck together merrily flying on Appa Airways, maybe after a while even snappy replies would be preferable to awkward silences --

"Uhm, hey - uh -" Sokka cleared his throat cautiously towards their volatile new passenger, "- so, any idea why we're going to Hanhu Mountains specifically? I mean, all I've got is pretty much just a cross on the map and that's it..." 

Sokka waited for an awkward quiet beat, but Prince Zuko made no move to acknowledge him - until he seemed to realize that they were all waiting for him to say something, and replied in a clipped tone - 

"It's close to Ganmei."

Sokka frowned, "Uh, okay, and what's in Ganmei?"

Unsurprisingly, there was no answer. 

Sokka glanced at Katara again, who just returned his earlier shrug to him. He glared at her unhappily, cuddling up there with Momo all cozy and unbothered, while expecting Sokka to entertain recently reformed enemy allies with some uncomfortable chit-chat neither of them wanted to make. Sokka sighed, annoyed, and looked back down at his map. There really wasn't a lot of useful information on Shuhon, and he could see only two towns named on the entire island - and neither of those was called Ganmei...

Sokka huffed sharply, "I'm just _saying,_ it'd be -"

"It's just a town, _okay??_ " Prince Zuko cut in irritably. "You can buy stuff from there!!"

"Okay okay, jeez, sorry for asking..." Sokka muttered.

The prince had turned to glare at him, which was pretty clearly proving to be his preferred mode of communication, and Sokka just pursed his lips tightly and ignored the cranky staring by frowning down at his map instead.

Toph, on the other hand, didn't seem to be deterred by Prince Zuko's prickly temper at all -

She just grinned widely at them,

"Sounds like just the right place for you, Sokka!"

Then she let go off Sokka's arm, and crawled unsteadily over to Prince Sparky, who stared at her like he'd suddenly dropped on the path of a charging moose-lion. Toph scuttled on the saddle next to her target, and clung tightly onto his arm.

"Oooh, warm!" Toph grinned happily, and announced with her zero-room-for-debate tone, "My firebender pillow now!!"

Well, that was clearly both the beginning and ending of _that_ discussion.

Prince Zuko looked up at the others helplessly, clearly not having any idea what to do with the sudden twelve-year-old earthbending extension hanging from his arm.

Sokka raised his eyebrow slightly, and shrugged, "Don't look at me - if you want to get rid of her you have to do it yourself."

Prince Sparky obviously didn't know who he was dealing with, because he held himself so stiffly he might as well been made of stone - and it just happened that lounging around on piles of stones was basically Toph's natural habitat, so that strategy wasn't going to do him any favors...

Sokka turned away to hide his scowl - so far that had always been _his_ numb-and-aching support-pillow arm for Toph - but apparently in order to keep peace, he was just going to have to pretend now that he didn't care at all that his second little sister had ditched him in favor of some novelty firebender warmth. 

Feeling sulky and hurt, he tried to ignore Katara and Toph being all cozy with their snuggle-buddies - a sneaky lemur and a grouchy firebender respectively - and instead leaned over the edge of Appa's saddle to look at the last thin lines of the red sunset disappearing below the horizon. 

They were getting further over the ocean, and it was too dark now to see any islands in the distance anymore. It didn't take long for the night to fall, and cast a sleepy blue hue over all of them. And then, one by one everyone seemed to fall asleep. 

Katara was sleeping curled up on the other side of the saddle, with a blanket wrapped around her, and Momo perched on top of the blanket. 

Toph had fallen asleep next to her new human heater, and after a while, even the rigid Prince Sparky seemed to relax a little and gave up any futile efforts to extract the sleeping lump attached to his side. 

Sokka was very tempted to grab himself a blanket and lie down too - but Aang was looking suspiciously like he was spending more time dozing off than steering them and someone needed to keep an eye on him in order to -

one: make sure they were going in the right direction,

and two: ensure Aang wouldn't embarrassingly nod off and then _fall_ off, and possibly drop into the ocean to never be seen _again_ \- at least not for the next hundred years or so, and that was really _way_ out of their timetable at the moment...

Sokka wondered if he should just switch places with Aang, but at least according to the compass they were going in the right direction, so he figured he could let Aang lounge around half-consciously on Appa's head for a while more.

He leaned back with a tired sigh, then saw a tiny bit of movement from the corner of his eye - it seemed like Toph's grumpy new pillow was still awake too - which meant that unfortunately he and Prince Sparky were now the only ones awake... Well, at least Sparky didn't show any interest in talking to Sokka at all, so thank the spirits he didn't have to try to come up with some cringy quips to ease the tension.

Ignoring the uncomfortable but blissfully quiet company, Sokka turned to look up towards the night sky, which had become a comforting sight for all the wrong reasons... 

Whenever they were flying the stars always seemed weirdly close and tangible, which he assumed was just an illusion, since they weren't _that_ much higher up and it really shouldn't make much of a difference. But under the wide open sky, it was easy to imagine being able to reach over and gather a few of the little spots of light, and maybe even move some of them around and rearrange them into new constellations.

But even amongst the countless stars, the pale moon was still the brightest spot in the sky.

On some days, the moon seemed - or _felt_ different too, and Sokka observed it often enough to notice those subtle changes. He was sure that usually that was just due to some very normal and mundane changes in the weather - nothing weird and spiritual there. He wasn't that interested in entertaining some convoluted spirit-world-nonsense theories, but sometimes he wondered if the Moon Spirit herself - for whatever reasons spirits had - could change how she would be seen by the rest of them, far below the sky...

Yesterday, the moon had been a clear icy white, as cold and bright as the endless fields of snow around Sokka's home village.

But today, the moon had turned into something more undefinable and unsettling - it was half-hidden by a hazy blur, which usually meant a snowstorm was on its way, but there were no snowstorms in the Fire Nation - so instead of a warning, Sokka only saw an obscured glimpse of something ancient and powerful...

\-- there was another place near their village, just at the edge of the great ice reef, where you could sometimes see the dim glow of sunken elephant-whale bones, eerily reflecting light in the depths of the dark sea. All that was left of that long-buried creature, which even the tribe elders had never seen alive, was an eternally frozen hazy skeleton that spanned a length wider than their entire village...

Sokka sighed deeply, blinking a little dazedly at the moon, and then looked back down to see that he wasn't the only who seemed to be lost in their thoughts -

Prince Zuko was still leaning against the saddle's edge and staring down at the ocean, looking the way he always did - quiet and morose, and as dimly pale and distant as the moon above them. 

It took a moment for Prince Zuko to realize that Sokka was looking in his direction, and he turned his head slightly -- he had a distracted, haunted expression - like Sokka had just abruptly reeled up his thoughts from sinking into whatever he saw in the dark waters far below...

Prince Zuko didn't avert his gaze this time, and met Sokka's eyes straight on - looking like he was just daring Sokka to say something, but Sokka was definitely too tired for that at the moment.

After the quiet had dragged on a second too long - and the awkwardness was killing him again - Sokka skirted his eyes over the saddle's edge towards the sea, not really seeing anything there - 

"Nice scenery, huh?" 

Sokka nodded at the darkness below. 

Prince Zuko blinked slowly, as if he'd briefly fallen into some frozen trance, and turned back towards where Sokka had pointed -

"Yeah..."

\-- well, that was pretty much all the small talk Sokka got in store for the night. It did actually go a lot better than he'd expected...

He leaned back again, and closed his eyes lightly, resigning himself to spending another few hours in awkward silence with Prince Sparky, but then after only a few minutes had passed, he heard a quiet mutter -

"This is the furthest I've been from - you know..." 

He glanced over at Prince Zuko, who wasn't looking at Sokka at all, though clearly that was addressed to him - but he was too surprised to hear Zuko volunteering to say anything at all that it took him a few seconds to catch on - 

"From home?" Sokka asked, frowning slightly. Prince Zuko didn't say anything to that, but he held himself so tensely that might as well have been an answer. Sokka leaned back again with an even heavier sigh, and said, "Yeah - I guess it doesn't feel a lot like home anymore, huh..."

Zuko's only reply was some barely audible hum, but that really wasn't hard to translate at all.

Sokka swallowed awkwardly again. He was still kind of surprised that he'd actually learned something new about Prince Zuko - at least without hours of prying questioning first. Not that it was much of a surprise that Zuko wouldn't have been traveling that much - being imprisoned kinda had that side-effect - but Sokka supposed it could explain some things...

They stayed quiet again after that - Sokka occasionally gave some directions to Aang, but he did feel like maybe, just _maybe_ he could rest his eyes for a second --

\-- after a long while, Sokka heard Prince Zuko's quiet voice again -

"We're here." 

\- and he flinched awake from whatever shallow sleep he'd been treading. Zuko had turned to look at him, and nodded down at the darkness, much like Sokka had done before - "Hanhu Mountains..." 

Sokka blinked at him drowsily, and then followed his gaze down towards the land, where he saw - well, some pretty unremarkable random dark shapes that told him nothing at all... 

Sokka had no idea if this was the correct place, but at this point he was also wayyy too tired to start doubting Prince Zuko's maybe-possibly-accurate skills for clairvoyance - right now he really would've been fine with any allegedly decent, or even acceptably notorious mountains, as long as he had a stable horizontal surface to introduce to his new sleeping mat and fluffy pillow... 

He nudged Aang a little, and he startled much the same way Sokka had a minute ago -

"I'm awake!! I didn't fall down!!"

"Yeah, that's great, Aang, well done," Sokka patted his shoulder, "and now that you're still with us, maybe you could get all of us down from here too, and please, with minimal turbulence preferably..."

"Sure, sure!! Smooth like a catgoose-gone-loose!!"

"Aang, that's not what that saying - " Sokka rubbed his forehead, and then sighed, "you know what, never mind, as long as you find us a gravity-friendly place to land..."

Sokka ignored Aang's predictable huffing at being reminded of the existence of gravity, but he wasn't having any high hopes about 'smooth' landings, catgoosely or otherwise, seeing as by now he had enough first-hand experience vividly telling him not to betray himself like that anymore... 

Still feeling drowsy, Sokka yawned and squinted at the mountains passing by them, most of which seemed steep and jagged, and he had to admit that they didn't look especially welcoming -

\-- if this even was the right place to begin with... Sokka scratched his head a little, and sat back to see that Prince Zuko was looking at him. Sokka wasn't sure what to do now that apparently they'd reached some kind of civil conversation levels, and just gave him an uncomfortable little grin and shrugged. Zuko worried his lip for a moment, as if considering something, before turning his eyes towards the starry sky - and then back down at Sokka. 

Sokka frowned and followed his gaze - he blinked at one of the eastern constellations shining in a distinct circular pattern ahead of them, then looked back at Zuko, who just shrugged his shoulder slightly.

"Huh," Sokka said -

\- and grabbed the saddle tighter when Aang loudly announced that he'd found a _mostly_ flat landing spot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone still sticking around with this fic - especially since what I consider to be the main part of the story begins from here (lmao and it only took me over 70 000 words to finally get there). So, I'm very excited about the next update! :DD
> 
> And as always, I'm really really grateful for all of your feedback on this story!! <333  
> [](https://wirelychee.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/tss-ch6sketches-which-means-theyre-unfinished-btw.jpg)  
>   
> As a little extra [here's a link ](https://wirelychee.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/tss-ch6sketches-which-means-theyre-unfinished-btw.jpg)to some of my ch6-sketches/doodles. :)


	7. The sky and the emperor

***

_**7\. The sky and the emperor** _

***

Aang looked up at the midday sun, and wiped sweat from his forehead.

He'd just finished clearing up a space for them between the cliffsides, flattening sharp rocks and smoothing the surface of the dry cracked ground. He'd even made nice steps leading from their little campsite between the mountains, and he contemplated on making a fancy railing too - 

"Isn't that enough already?" 

"Almost done!" Aang grinned widely, skipped over to Zuko and flopped on the ground opposite him. He presented his newest creation - 

"Look, I was practising my sculpturing skills too!"

He held out the rock to Zuko, who stared at it much like he'd stared at all the other rocks Aang had shown him.

"It's a rock."

"It's Appa!" Aang grinned, and pointed at rock-Appa's back, "See, I made the arrows too!"

"Have you ever _seen_ your bison?"

Aang furrowed his brows at the miniature sky-bison - well, _he_ thought it looked pretty good... though, maybe Appa's ears weren't usually _that_ long and floppy, and maybe the arrow kind of looked more like Appa had three eyes -- 

He set the sculpture aside on the ground, and grinned at Zuko, "Okay, I think I need to work on it some more, but don't worry, I'll show it to you later when it's finished!"

"Great."

Aang straightened his back and squared his shoulders, trying to mimic Zuko's very stern and serious sitting pose. Then he smiled at Zuko expectantly -

"I don't know how to teach firebending," Zuko said, and crossed his arms. "So, I don't know what you expect me to do."

Aang's smile wavered - not exactly reassuring first words from his new firebending teacher...

“Uh, well, you know how to make fire, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So, that’s already more than me? Eh -?” Aang gave Zuko a hopeful little grin - but as Zuko continued to _not_ do or say anything even remotely firebendily, Aang's grin started to dip downwards to form an awkward grimace.

Okay, maybe this wasn’t going as well as he'd hoped... So far, it seemed like Zuko would be the least enthusiastic teacher Aang had met - and that was _including_ Jeong Jeong. Aang felt a bit apprehensive when he realized that he'd been right in predicting that Zuko's two main modes of communication would be either not speaking at all, or yelling _very_ loudly. 

Aang worried his lip and squinted up at the bright sky for a moment, before looking back down at his grudging teacher. But - at least it was the middle of the day, and hot and sunny - and didn't everyone say this should be the best time for firebending...

Aang cleared his throat, and carefully poked at the tense silence between them -

“So, uh... where should I start?” 

"Why are you so convinced that _I_ can teach you?" 

"Because it just feels right," Aang said, and shrugged, at least this was an easy question to answer. "I felt the same way when I met Toph, and now I know that I can trust that instinct. It's kinda like finding a really comfy pair of shoes that fit just right - _you know_ they're the ones."

Zuko leaned his head back, and sighed heavily - 

"Did you just compare me to a pair of shoes?"

"Yeah! Really comfy ones!" Aang smiled widely at him, "And I'm lucky, 'cause now I've got three really nice pairs!!"

Zuko groaned, and pinched his forehead with his fingers. His rigid posture seemed to be slumping a little, and Aang was relieved to relax his own shoulders too. But he still didn't know what to do, and waited tensely...

After a long quiet moment, Zuko sighed heavily and glanced back at Aang -

"So, you’ve tried to make fire before?”

“Yeah, um, I was training with my first teacher, Jeong Jeong, and I - well, I made some fire, and I was really excited about it because firebending seemed a lot easier than I thought - but then I couldn’t control it, and Katara got burned -“ Aang sighed, feeling guilty again, "I stopped firebending after that, and then when I tried I just couldn't do it again...”

Zuko stared quietly at Aang, before sitting up straighter again with a resigned sigh. Apparently Zuko had realized the easiest way to get out of this situation was to teach at least _something_ , because then he lit up a small flame on his palm, and held it out for Aang -

“Okay then, take this.” 

Aang hesitated for a second, but then opened his hand and Zuko handed the flame over to him, leaving it floating as lightly as a delicate little butterlily over his palm.

Aang flinched slightly, expecting his fingers to get burned.

“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt you..."

Aang nodded nervously, but to his surprise the fire wasn't painfully hot at all - it felt less like sharp stinging heat from open flames, and more like soft warm air over cobblestones during a bright sunny day.

“Oh wow, it actually feels really nice," Aang said, smiling, "it doesn't burn at all.” 

Zuko didn't say anything to that, just stared at the fire on Aang's palm - Aang was afraid the fire would go out and his hand had frozen in place. He glanced at Zuko hesitantly. 

"Uh, what do I do now?"

"You said you've firebended before?"

Aang grimaced, "Yeah, a little bit, but um, what if it goes out?"

"Then you'll - or _I'll_ just make a new one, it's not a big deal."

Aang bit his lip nervously, still not sure what to do.

“Well, aren't you an airbender," Zuko said, starting to sound very impatient, "so you know how to control air - you should be able to keep the flame alive with your airbending at least.”

Aang nodded, and stared at the fire in concentration, shooing away any over-enthusiastic aircurrents that threatened to blow it out.

While the flame kept on burning steadily, Zuko asked, "What did your previous firebending master teach you?”

"Master Jeong Jeong?" Aang shrugged, his eyes transfixed on the little flickering flame, “Uh, he talked a lot about breathing, I guess...”

“Yeah, that’s the basis for everything else -” Zuko said, and then hesitated, “umm, so I guess we have to start from that too... Maybe you can try to control the size of the flame - when you breathe in, the fire should grow larger - and then when you breathe out make it as small as you can, but don’t let it go out completely, okay?”

Aang nodded soberly, intent on making this work. He breathed in, and then out - and so went the flame...

He cringed and glanced up at Zuko.

"Oops...”

“Never mind, you can make another one.”

Aang flexed his fingers nervously, they felt weirdly cool now without the fire, but -

“I - I can’t..."

Zuko ignored his dejected look, and just gave another little flame to Aang’s palm.

“Whatever, then just try with this one again."

Aang concentrated again - this time he closed his eyes, and evened out his breathing, before taking a deep breath - much slower this time, and he watched as the flame grew slightly higher and brighter, and then as he let out his breath the flame shriveled back to a tiny one. Aang managed to control his breathing quickly enough that the air current didn't become too strong, and the fire didn't disappear this time. Feeling encouraged, Aang managed to complete the breathing exercise several times in a row, before the flame weakened too much and blew out with the wind.

Aang smiled up at Zuko, happy that he’d finally gotten something right. It was hard to tell for sure, but Aang thought maybe Zuko looked a tiny bit relieved about that too.

“Okay, you should try to keep it burning longer, but at least you got the hang of it, right?”

“Yeah!” Aang grinned.

For the rest of the day, they continued to do more breathing exercises, and while Aang was still kind of impatient with them and how slowly he was progressing, he still felt hopeful. Firebending already felt a lot more natural to him than earthbending had been in the beginning, so he was cautiously optimistic that he'd get better at it faster too.

But there was still that huge glaring problem that kept weighing on his mind - Aang had expected that Zuko would berate him more about that, but instead after Aang's initial failure to create fire, he had completely side-stepped the whole issue. Maybe he was just tired, but he seemed weirdly calm about it now.

"Just do whatever you can now, we'll think about it later, okay?"

"Uh, okay," Aang agreed cautiously. If Zuko wasn't worried about it, then maybe he didn't need to worry that much either...

The afternoon came to an end, and they left to walk back to their campsite. As usual, Zuko didn't talk much and he looked tired - and while Aang was tired too, it just made him feel giddier and more lightheaded.

He turned to smile at Zuko, "When I learn how to make fire, can you show me those firetricks you did when we met with General Iroh - 'cause see, I do those with air all the time!" Aang grinned, and demonstrated enthusiastically by spinning a few tiny balls of air between his hands. "I'd really like to know how to do those with fire too!"

Zuko frowned, and looked skeptical - "You liked them?" 

"Yeah, they were cool!"

After a moment's silence, Zuko nodded slightly, "Um, okay, maybe sometime later then..."

"Sure, thanks!" Aang beamed.

Aang was almost hoping that Zuko's good - or well, at least _better_ \- mood would last for a little longer, but when they finally got back, Zuko seemed as grumpy as he had when they'd left, as though nothing had changed. 

Katara and Sokka were preparing dinner, while Toph lounged on her flattened rock divan like a sun-bathing lizard.

Toph perked her head up, and grinned, "So, how'd it go, twinkletoes?"

"Pretty good!" Aang smiled widely at her. He gave Zuko a searching look, hoping for some confirmation, but Zuko made no comment on Aang's self-assessment. 

Sokka looked up at them from cutting sweet potatoes with his knife, and lifted his eyebrow -

"Aang, please define _'pretty good'_?"

"Sokka..." Katara said.

Sokka ignored her, set his knife aside and got up.

"Well...?"

Aang squirmed under Sokka's scrutiny, "Well, it was okay, but -" he shrugged uneasily, "- uh, I still couldn't actually make any fire..."

" _Still -?_ " Sokka scratched his head, "Isn't mastering ALL four elements kinda the whole point of the Avatar-thing - so, you _should_ be able to do that, right?"

"Uh, y-yeah...?"

"So, why is it so difficult for you to firebend then? Don't you just whoosh your hand, and then, you know - _whoosh!_ Wait - hold on, can Avatars be malfunctional - " Sokka looked over at Zuko, "- did you try shaking him to check if there's something off? Maybe he needs a good slap on the head to get restarted?"

Zuko glared at him. 

"No."

"Yeah, no slapping please," Aang quickly agreed.

Sokka crossed his arms, and frowned at Aang and Zuko - but then, probably after taking note of Zuko's increasingly disgruntled scowl, he eased his serious-business expression a little --

"Okay, I know you two are under a lot of pressure with, you know, speed-learning firebending and Avatar-asskicking to save the world and all that, and I don't wanna hurry you guys or anything, but --"

Sokka took a stick from their woodpile, and then drew a large number on the ground with a dramatic flourish -

##  _19_

"See, that's our deadline," Sokka looked back at Aang and Zuko, and pointed at them with his stick, "- that's how many days we have left! Then it's all over!!"

Aang bit down on his lip anxiously, and Zuko looked grumpier by the second.

Katara sighed wearily, still stirring the soup and adding pieces of onions in it. "You know, Sokka, don't you think you're being a bit too _ominous_ about this whole thing..."

Sokka glared at her, "No, Katara, I'm being _REALISTIC._ "

"You're just making everyone more nervous," she shook her head at him, "and even if we do our best, even if Aang _does_ master firebending and controls the Avatar state - we just don't know what could happen. We can't already resign ourselves to thinking that it's going to be the end, and there won't be another chance -"

"Yeah, well, if we're lucky maybe most of _us_ might survive," Sokka cut in sharply, "- but you know what happens to Aang if he goes against the Fire Lord, and loses? _HE DIES!!_ "

Aang flinched, and felt an anxious shiver pass through him.

Katara stood up with an angry scowl, "Sokka, you're really not helping!!" She pointed her menacingly large soup-ladle at Sokka, and little droplets of tomato soup splattered on the ground. "I'm sure Aang and Zuko are doing the best they can, so there's no need to start pressuring them more - they _know_ , okay?"

Aang wasn't sure whether he agreed with that or not, since he wasn't sure himself if he knew anything that he was supposed to know - he didn't even know _what_ he was supposed to know...

Sokka sighed, and shook his head. "Yeah, well, of course I don't like it either, Katara, but _that's it_ , that's what we're facing," he said grimly. "I mean, yeah, sure we might find ourselves a new Avatar somewhere to keep up the fight - but we're not going to get _Aang_ back!!"

Aang's shoulders drooped with worry, his thoughts were getting all mixed and jumbled up, while Katara and Sokka continued arguing. He looked up at his teacher, still hoping for some reassurance that their training was going well and he had nothing to worry about - but instead Zuko seemed to have fallen completely silent again. 

Zuko turned to walk away, and Aang called out hesitantly after him, "Uhh, aren't you going to eat dinner with us?"

"No."

Aang looked over at Toph, who was frowning quietly at them all, but she just shrugged at him. Yeah - maybe it was better that they didn't pester Zuko any more for the day - Aang didn't think testing the limits of his teacher's patience so early on would be a good idea...

He sat down cautiously to help Katara with the rest of the vegetables, and tried to ignore her bickering with Sokka. 

Aang had to admit that as much he'd like to just shrug off Sokka's doom-and-gloom predictions - he had a bad feeling that now really _was_ a good time to be a pessimist...

* * *

The next morning, Zuko had absolutely no desire to get up at sunrise and drag himself to teach firebending to a chatty twelve-year-old, but Aang turned out to be an even more enthusiastic student than Zuko had feared...

And so, he ended up standing most of the morning in their new practise place, rubbing his eyes and squinting tiredly at the bright sky, and then at the even more brightly smiling student. 

He'd shown Aang a couple of basic katas, but practising them was going to be a problem, seeing as Aang still had to rely on the fire Zuko gave him. But, on the other hand, Aang was _the Avatar_ , so obviously the kid was going to be naturally good at all forms of bending, and Zuko was starting to realize just how irritating that was going to be... He only needed to show Aang something once or twice, and despite starting his 'proper' firebending training just a day ago, Aang already seemed to have a knack for catching up quickly with pretty much everything. 

And instead of being motivated to teach his prodigious student something more complicated, Zuko just felt more apathetic towards the whole thing.

Aang grinned at him widely, sweeping carefully a narrow arc of fire over his head again - it was perfect, and he'd only shown that to Aang once that morning, it had definitely taken Zuko _a lot_ longer to learn to perform it that well...

"How was that?"

"Fine."

"How about that one?"

Zuko gritted his teeth, "Great."

"Damn, can't believe Aang and Katara complained about MY teaching attitude," Toph cackled, not for the first time.

Zuko huffed, and really wanted to ignore the mini-commentator who just _happened_ to accidentally wander by, and then seemed to have nothing better to do than to offer completely unsolicited teacher-to-teacher advice.

But Toph just kept grinning with that endless amount of confidence she exuded - she always looked like she'd been eavesdropping on everyone's conversations in plain sight, and then kept smiling smugly about it, knowing she'd never get caught.

Aang tried to do another circle, ending in a wider arch, but then he dropped his fire midway - he didn't hesitate for a second before skipping back over to Zuko, accompanied by his perpetually excited grin -

"More fire, please, Sifu Prince Zuko!"

Zuko gave an ever-suffering sigh, loudly enough that his annoying student heard him, but grudgingly handed over another flame. Aang took it quickly, but then rocked on his heels hesitantly, holding the fire over his hands still with excessive care.

"Uh, so, what now?"

Zuko really couldn't think of any new exercises that wouldn't get on his nerves right now.

"Same, but better!!"

"Oh, okay!" Aang just grinned, and after jumping back, he predictably proceeded to become better within minutes.

"Wow, he really likes you, huh."

Zuko crossed his arms, and glared at Aang fooling around with the fire again. "Maybe I'd feel more special, if you hadn't repeatedly told me that he likes _'absolutely everyone ever'_ ," he said dryly.

Toph grinned up at him, "Well, now you're just being petty." 

She managed to be quiet for maybe half a minute, but then, like the rest of her friends, she just had to keep talking about something all the time - "I really hate being all naggy like Katara, but you know you can eat together with us, right? And don't worry too much about Sokka's rants - he's always predicting something bad will happen, that's just normal Sokka-stuff."

Zuko said nothing, and really wished she'd go away.

But apparently her mind-reading abilities weren't up to the task today, because she continued obliviously, "Also, if you're still mad about - you know, what happened earlier, I've already yelled at them for being dumb jerks and not trusting you, but if it makes you feel better, you can yell at them too. I'll back you up." 

Toph kept grinning, and Zuko felt completely out of energy. He turned to her, frowning deeply - not that it mattered to Toph, but at least now she seemed to sense his annoyance, since her ever-confident grin slightly wavered.

"No, I don't want to. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Okay." She was now frowning too, staring at the ground intensely, "Then what does?"

He sighed, really done with talking to her for the day, and most of all tired of her pretending to 'get him' because she was from a wealthy family too, as if that automatically meant they should somehow be best friends now. 

"Why do you care?"

She tilted her head. "Well, I thought it'd make you feel better. What'd you want to do then?"

"You know what I want??" he finally snapped. "I don't want to answer any more annoying questions from you - and actually, I _don't_ want to talk to any of you about anything, but ESPECIALLY NOT _YOU_. I'm not your _'friend'_ , okay?? The only thing I came here to do was to teach the Avatar, and THAT'S IT."

Toph furrowed her brows heavily, and glared somewhere towards his leg, "Hey, I was just trying to be helpful - if you don't want me here, you can just say so."

"Fine, I don't want you here!! _Happy now??_ "

She scowled deeply, and muttered, "Not really..."

Zuko turned away from her slumped shoulders, and walked off before she had the chance to say anything else.

"Uh... did we finish practising already?" Aang called after him.

"YES."

Zuko felt his mood plummeting further down than he wanted to cope with at the moment, and went to find a place where he wouldn't have to see any of the kids for a while. 

But unfortunately he still had to pass by Sokka's new countdown number on the way, and it was again so glaringly large that it was hard to ignore -

##  _18_

He turned his head away, and gritted his teeth - was that annoying idiot going to keep making them every single day...

At least the kids seemed to have the good sense to leave him alone this time, since none of them came to pester him for lunch, and he was left in peace until noon, when he saw Aang hesitantly approaching him.

Zuko sighed heavily, and got up before Aang said anything.

They went back to their practise area, and Zuko wasn't surprised that this time Toph was nowhere to be seen - at least she didn't need to be told twice to go away, but he had to admit that didn't exactly make him feel any better either... 

After a while, standing in the bright daylight was starting to give him a headache, and Zuko decided to light up a small campfire inside a stone circle, so that Aang could use that instead of having to ask Zuko to make a fire for him every time. 

He sagged to sit back on the ground again, but his relief didn't last long - Aang seemed to have trouble handling an open fire, and he kept burning his fingers whenever he tried to pick up some flames. The campfire died out, and they had to go back to what they'd been doing before - but it was getting increasingly obvious how inconvenient and tedious this whole thing was becoming, really fast...

Aang still looked way too energetic to be jumping around in the sweltering heat of the midday sun. He seemed to be engrossed with juggling a small fireball Zuko had given him - which wasn't exactly what Zuko had instructed him to do, but he didn't really care anymore either way.

He knew how rigorous the firebending training was in the Fire Nation military, and considering what Aang was expected to do soon, that's the level of training he really should've been getting. Practising by passing around tiny flames felt ridiculously childish and inefficient... Zuko dreaded thinking what he was going to have to tell Uncle Iroh the next time they saw each other - and then of course everyone else would find out too that Zuko hadn't been good enough to teach even the basics of firebending, let alone being the Avatar's firebending master. 

There was a high chance that this could be the final addition in his endless list of failures, so maybe it was a fitting finale after all...

After a small eternity, Aang finally lost some of his boundless energy, and he walked back over to Zuko with considerably slouchier steps than usual.

"Isn't the sun strongest around noon?" Aang asked, peering up at the sky, and then at Zuko, "So it should be the best time for firebending, right?" 

Zuko squinted up at the sunny sky too, and sighed.

"Yeah, that's usually the case - and we had most of our firebending lessons from sunrise up until late noon." 

Aang made a desperate face, and plopped himself down on the ground next to Zuko.

"What am I doing wrong..."

\-- well, _something_ was definitely wrong... Either Zuko was such a lousy teacher that he couldn't even help his student to create a fire - or there was the odd possibility that Sokka had been right, and maybe Aang actually _was_ some kind of a defective Avatar, who didn't have any innate firebending ability at all.

In any case, either option seemed too exhausting to think about. Zuko leaned his head back against the cliffside, and closed his eyes for a moment. 

This was such a bad idea - in every way possible, not least because he was sitting here and literally helping his nation's greatest enemy... But also because he really was the worst person possible to be _anyone's_ firebending master - all throughout his childhood, he'd had the perfect setting and the best teachers in the _entire_ Fire Nation _for years_ , and yet his firebending skills had always been mediocre at best.

And now, after the past few years of not doing much else except sitting in the dark, lighting lanterns and heating porridge, even _that_ would be a wildly generous assessment...

Zuko opened his eyes, and blinked heavily a few times at the sudden brightness again. Aang had been sitting weirdly still, and he was staring at Zuko way too hopefully for his comfort.

"When I had lessons with the royal instructors, we always practised during daylight outside, whenever it was possible..." Zuko said, before turning to look at Aang, "- but I haven't practised in daylight for years - it was always dark underground, and firebending was the only way I could see anything at all..."

Aang tilted his head, looking thoughtful, "Dark... uh, so do you think we should try to practise during the night instead?"

Zuko shrugged wearily - he had no idea if that would make any difference at all, but he was too tired to think of any other options anymore.

"Yeah, we can try."

* * *

In the evening, when the sun had just dipped below the horizon and left behind fading wisps of colorful clouds, they set out to wander further and higher from their practise place. Aang flattened stepping stones out of rocks on the way, until they found a nice even plateau, with a wide view of the rough volcanic hills on the other side of the mountains, and the barren forest next to them which seemed quiet and deserted.

Aang smiled looking over the open landscape, but as he gazed further ahead towards the horizon, he realized he could also clearly see a brightly glowing cluster of red and yellowish lights - which meant that the nearby towns weren't _that_ far away then -- their plateau was still partially obscured by the jagged hills and the old gnarly trees, but they definitely weren't completely hidden either...

Aang glanced nervously at Zuko, who was still shielding the flame on his palm.

"Uh, what if someone's gonna see the lights from here..."

"You're an earthbender too - why don't you just block the view with something."

"Oh right, good point!"

Aang lifted up a protective wall of stone at the edge of the cliff - which kind of made the plateau look like a terrace on a very rocky rooftop. He tilted his head way back and gazed up at the evening sky, with more and more stars coming out of hiding as the last trace of the sun disappeared.

Aang was starting to feel more hopeful, and grinned at Zuko.

"This is actually pretty cozy."

Zuko sat down in the middle of the plateau, and looked at Aang expectantly. Aang sat across from him, and took a deep breath, waiting - the flame on Zuko's palm was still covering them in a warm yellow light. Zuko watched Aang pensively for a moment, before he extinguished the fire -

\- and then suddenly, after the bright warmth, it was very dark.

Aang could still see Zuko by the ambient light left from the sunset, but it was hard to properly make out his expressions anymore. He exhaled shakily, not really sure what to do.

"Well?"

"Uh..." Aang raised his hand nervously, and tried very hard to imagine holding something hot and bright on his palm - but he wasn't surprised at all when nothing happened. He looked up at Zuko, and if nothing else at least his face felt like burning from embarrassment. 

"So, uh, how do you firebend in the dark?"

"Just like any other time." 

"But I thought firebending was supposed to be the strongest during the day?"

Zuko sighed, "Depends on what you use it for - if you need strength, then yeah, you're better off during sunrise or noon. But if you just need it to be practical, then it doesn't matter."

"Oh..." Aang tilted his head, now feeling kind of dumb, "I never really thought about that. I thought firebending just needs to be as powerful as possible."

"Yeah well, I'm not exactly the best person for that..." Zuko muttered, and looked away, "In that case, you'd better find another teacher..."

Aang shook his head, "No, I don't want to find anyone else."

That just seemed to make Zuko more frustrated, "Well, maybe you should start to consider that. Maybe this just doesn't work, because I don't know how to teach you, or maybe I'm just not good enough at firebending... So, if it doesn't work, then there's no reason for me to be here, you should find someone else."

"But there is a reason," Aang assured him resolutely, "- because even if it doesn't work, I'm still happy that I'm here with you."

Zuko was quiet for a heavy moment.

"Why would you happy about that?" He sounded accusing, as if he was genuinely upset about that. "I don't like you, and you don't like me."

Aang tilted his head, "I don't think you really think that way -"

"You're wrong, and you don't know _anything_ about me," Zuko said tightly.

Aang winced, and looked down at his restless hands, "Well, it's just that I - everyone keeps telling me that I'm special and they expect so much from me - and I want to feel special - but most of the time, I don't... I just feel normal, except A LOT more scared than normal, so I feel like I'm failing everyone, because maybe I'm not as special as they think I am..." Aang looked at him hopefully, "You - you know what I mean, right?"

Zuko sighed, "Yeah, I know..."

"And I know you know - that's why, I'm happy that I'm here with you..."

Zuko huffed at that, and kept glaring at him, which was obvious even in the dark. 

"But you're _the Avatar_ , even if you don't _feel_ like it, you actually ARE special. You can do anything. You could literally - _'save the world'_ ," Zuko said in a derisive tone, and then looked away. "No one ever really expected me to do or be _anything_ special - it was completely the opposite for me - and my mum -- uh, they always had to come up with excuses why I even deserved to _live_ in the first place, because whatever I was - it was _never_ enough," his voice was starting to sound strained again, while Aang stared at him without blinking. "The truth is, I should've been dead years ago - but I'm still here, and I don't know why..."

Aang wanted to say something reassuring, but suddenly he got weird cold chills and shuddered a little.

"I - but that's what happened to me too," he admitted quietly, "I was supposed to die a long time ago, but I'm still here too..."

Aang swallowed heavily, and the air around him suddenly felt more tangible - like even if he wanted to, he couldn't _not_ notice how it moved around him in restless invisible swirls. His heart was pounding loudly too, and now Zuko was clearly frowning at him -- Aang cleared his throat and took a deep breath, and then exhaled some of the overflowing energy from his head. 

"Uh, I'm just - I'm really glad you told me that," he said shakily.

Zuko seemed to be still frowning, and just muttered a quiet, "Um - okay..."

Then an awkward silence fell over them again. Aang stretched the fingers of his uncooperative hands anxiously, and looked up at the sky. It was getting darker and he still had no idea what to do...

"Uh, well, speaking of dying, and all that -" Aang said with a nervous little laugh, "what if I can't learn firebending - and Sokka was right - but even if I do learn it, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do at all..."

Aang looked at Zuko, still hoping that there was some hidden pivotal knowledge he could share.

Zuko stared back at him, "You mean, you don't know how you're going to fight against the Fire Lord --"

"Yeah," Aang admitted, "and um, I was hoping that you'd -"

"How should I know?"

"But you know your -"

"No, I don't!" Zuko said tightly. "Does it look like I EVER won against my father??"

Aang winced. "Uh, so what would happen if you ever went back to face him -?"

"My dad would kill me," Zuko said, and then huffed ruefully, "- well, I guess we have that in common too..." 

"Y-yeah," Aang laughed nervously again. He desperately tried to think of another approach that wouldn't make Zuko mad, "Um well, what about - what if we manage to defeat him, and then you could go back to take his place - I mean, you're the Crown Prince, so you must've thought about that when you were growing up there, right?"

"Yeah, I did, a lot..." Zuko said distantly, then added very quietly, "- but do you think I ever wanted to be like him..."

"No, of course not!" Aang replied firmly. He looked down at his hands, and after a moment's hesitation admitted quietly too, "Honestly, I never wanted to be the Avatar either, and I got really upset when I found out about it... After that I ran away, but then - I lost _everyone_..."

Aang looked up at the starry sky, and sighed sadly.

"I don't know what's going to happen, but I promise I'll help you," Aang turned to Zuko again, and added carefully, "- and I hope that means that we can help each other?"

Zuko looked at him quietly for a moment longer, but then nodded.

"Yeah, okay," he sighed, sounding resigned, "I'll help you."

Aang smiled and was able to relax a little, the night air suddenly felt crispier and easier to breathe too. Even the past lives hadn't been much help in easing his burden - but it made him feel a lot lighter and less lonely knowing that Zuko understood what it felt like when everyone was expecting you to carry the fate of their future. 

Zuko kept looking at Aang for a moment more, but then gave up whatever he was searching for - he leaned back and tilted his head up, staring somewhere far away. 

Even though they hadn't really made any progress, Aang was content on just having a peaceful moment high up under the open sky again. When he'd been growing up, the night sky had been like a playground for him and the other children at the temple, they had spent countless of nights flying around with their bisons and pretending to catch the stars. The sky had always been full of life and energy to them - and it still was, but there weren't many left who lived guided by that knowledge anymore.

But Aang wasn't able to ignore his earthly worries for long, and he went back to staring at his empty palm. He did feel much more peaceful now, but the problem still remained...

Zuko was looking at Aang's hand thoughtfully too, and then sighed wearily - 

"I don't know, maybe just try to make a spark first -"

"A spark?"

"Yeah..."

Aang tilted his head, confused - 

"Uh, how?"

Zuko shrugged, "I don't know, like this I suppose -"

He lifted up his right hand, and snapped his fingers - and Aang could see something flash brightly in the darkness.

"Oh!"

Aang lifted up his hand too, and bit down on his lip anxiously - he snapped his fingers - and there was nothing...

"Don't hold your breath..." Zuko corrected him quietly.

Aang nodded, and took a deep breath - exhaled slower this time and then snapped his fingers again, and - suddenly he could feel something prickling at his fingertips.

His eyes widened and he looked up at Zuko, surprised -

"Do it again."

The second time he could even see a flash of light too - Aang's grin grew along with his sudden progress.

"Oh wow, it worked!"

"Can you keep it alive?" Zuko asked. "Um, I mean, can you turn that into a fire?"

Aang stared at his hand, and concentrated on creating a more solid spark - he had to do it a couple of times, but then caught the prickly little light between his fingers, and quickly cradled it between his palms. 

It was crackling and pale at first, like a distant little star, but as he directed more energy towards the light - it started to feel like it was soaking up the warmth from his hands like a sponge - but instead of draining him from the warmth, it was reflected back to him even stronger -- 

\- the light started to burn brighter and larger, and then turned into little flames flickering slightly in the breeze. Soon, the yellowish glow reached over to Zuko as well, and Aang could see him again in the warm light.

Aang grinned widely at Zuko and then back at the fire on his hands, almost jumping up in excitement -

"I did it! I finally did it!"

Zuko didn't say anything, just stared at the flames as they grew bigger...

* * *

Apparently these kids took the opportunity to celebrate pretty much anything.

Zuko couldn't really blame Aang for being enthusiastic about his breakthrough, and maybe he was pretty relieved too that there was one less problem to worry about... But that didn't mean he didn't feel exhausted just watching Aang telling the others how he'd finally learned to make his own fire, while jumping around way more than a gravity-bound person should.

And then they all decided to hold an impromptu second dinner.

"Here's your bowl!" 

Sokka placed it on the ground next to the campfire, where they seemed to expect him to sit as well.

"I'm not hungry," Zuko just grunted.

"But this is not like _real_ food, this is snack food!" Sokka declared. "When you celebrate something, you gotta break out the unhealthiest foods for the proper mood!"

"Yeah, and you've gotta eat with us this time!" Aang was still grinning widely, "I couldn't have done it without you!!"

Katara spread out a thin bamboo mat on the ground, and Sokka arranged little bowls and plates on it with the aesthetic meticulousness of setting up an actual dinner table. 

This was starting to seem way more complicated than Zuko had the energy for, but he grudgingly sat down. Maybe he could just eat quickly and go. There wasn't much to tell anyway - Aang had already explained pretty much everything in the first three overlong sentences he'd babbled upon returning from the mountain top.

Zuko glanced briefly over at Toph, who was sitting notably further away from him than usual, but her face was as hard to read as always... He never had any clue about what she was really thinking - while apparently all _he_ needed to do was to breathe twice in succession and it seemed like she'd already read his entire mind, and probably his past and future too.

At least she didn't look visibly mad that he'd yelled at her in the morning, but it was hard not to notice that, unlike before, this time she made no initiative to try to talk to him either.

Once they were all seated, Sokka raised a cup to Aang, "So, congratulations to us and the rest of the world that our very own Avatar finally _finally_ managed to fulfill the minimum requirement needed for firebending," he said dryly, "so, you know, hooray for that."

"I know, it's great!!" Aang grinned. 

Katara smiled too, "We're all really proud and happy for you, Aang."

Sokka looked at Zuko, and pointed at him with the cup as well, "And thanks to Zuko for not just saving Aang's ass, but also our collective asses too."

"What was that, did you just say Aangs _ass_?" Toph snorted.

Sokka glared at her, "No, I said _Aang's_ ass."

"Guys, please..."

"It's okay, Katara," Aang grinned, "I'm happy you're all so supportive of my butt!"

Sokka slapped his back, "No problem, Aang, that's what we're here for!"

The kids continued their usual inane chatter, and at least for a few minutes it seemed like they'd have the good sense to not involve him in any of it and Zuko could eat whatever little bits he took in peace. 

But then predictably his luck ran out, as usual, and when there was a lull in conversation Sokka turned to him -

"So, what was it like growing up in the Royal Palace?" He asked lightly, as if that was a topic Zuko had clearly just been _dying_ to chat about. "That place looked pretty fancy - totally _creepy,_ but in a fancy way. I mean, I thought Toph's home looked pretty nice, but compared to the Fire Nation Palace, it's kinda like seeing a cabbage stand parked next to a golden dragon-star restaurant..." He glanced over at Toph, "Uh, no offense, Toph, it's still a really nice cabbage stand." 

Toph shrugged dismissively, "None taken. Didn't really care for either."

Sokka kept looking at Zuko, obviously expecting an answer -

"It wasn't that fun," Zuko just muttered.

"Okay, I'm getting that, but did you have like fifty servants and bathtubs made of gold, or something ridiculous like that?"

Zuko looked up at him, that was such a naive question he wasn't sure if Sokka was making fun of him or not... He'd had servants his entire life - so many he could barely remember any of their names, just the last two stuck in his mind really. And growing up, it had never occurred to him that there were people out there who _didn't_ have servants who'd do pretty much anything they were asked for without a single show of hesitation.

Also, if it was at all possible to have something made of gold in the Palace, then whatever it was, it definitely had been made of gold...

"There were a lot more than fifty," he said, and hoped his surly reply was enough of an answer. 

It wasn't.

"A hundred?"

He scoffed, "Way more..."

"What do you do with over a hundred servants?" Sokka looked puzzled, "How can you even do anything if there are so many people around all the time? Like, where do they all even _fit?_ "

Toph kicked Sokka's leg, "Stop embarrassing yourself, snoozles. They're not supposed to be seen, _that's the point_."

Katara shrugged, "I don't think I'd want to have servants, but it does sound pretty nice that you wouldn't have to cook something every single day, and then wash the dishes, and then wash everyone's clothes, and then cook again..." she trailed off with an exhausted sigh.

"Hey, if you wanna order some servants around without owning any, you know, you could always go and have a sleepover at my parent's house..." Toph said.

Zuko tried to ignore them - and generally tried not to think about his childhood in the Palace, having more servants than anyone could ever ask for, being looked after by guards everywhere he went, and despite all that still having to fear for his life nearly every single day... 

“So, Zuko, did you have any friends in the Palace? Like someone you just hung out with?” Aang asked, and Zuko sighed heavily. "I mean, uhh, before what happened..."

Zuko ducked his head, and scowled down at his bowl. Aang sure knew how to pick his topics...

“No.”

“Oh, uhh - no friends at all?”

“No.”

Zuko could just feel Aang's discomfort radiating from him. Aang looked around at the others, clearly silently asking for backup. 

Toph shrugged, and said in her usual nonchalant manner, “Yeah, I didn’t have any friends at home either, I didn't really even know any other kids while growing up. I’m not sure I missed having friends exactly, since I didn’t know what that would be like - but _I_ wanted to be the one to decide whether I wanted friends or not," her casual voice took on a more bitter tone, "- but instead, my parents always fussied me around like a stupid doll, and I never got to decide anything for myself, not even that...” 

Now she definitely seemed genuinely sad, and Zuko looked away from her, picking at the fried sweet potatoes in his bowl absently and feeling vaguely guilty again...

Sokka tilted his head thoughtfully, “Well, I don't think I really had any friends in our village either... I mean, it's a pretty small place, and everyone knows everyone, so it wasn't that lonely... But - there weren't any other older kids left in the village, and a bunch of five-year-olds weren't exactly thrilling conversation partners, so it just felt kind of - empty, I guess, that I couldn't share things with someone my age..." Sokka trailed off, and then glanced briefly at Katara, "Yeah, okay, there was Katara too, but she doesn’t count.”

"What do you mean I don't count??" Katara glared at him. “You don’t think I’m your friend?”

“No, of course not! You’re my sister, that’s totally different!”

“How is that different?? I consider you my friend, Sokka - you could share things with me!!”

_“You know that’s not what I mean!!!”_

“I'm sure we're all friends here,” Aang cut in with a placating tone, “and everyone _definitely_ knows you two are siblings too..." 

Then Aang shook his head, looking down at his fidgeting fingers. "But - oh wow, I feel really sad for you guys, you were all so lonely when you were kids. I was really lucky - I had a lot of friends all over the world, it was great!" he grinned brightly, but then the edges of his smile slightly faded, "But - they’re all gone now, and I’m the only one left...” 

Everyone went quiet at that.

After a moment's pause, Aang squared his shoulders, and smiled cheerfully again, “But I have you guys as friends now, so I’m happy!”

“Yeah,” Katara smiled fondly back at him, "we're all really happy to have you as our friend too, Aang."

Sokka made some confirming noises, and fished a pickled plum from his bowl. He held it between his chopsticks and eyed it thoughtfully for a moment - before turning to Zuko, who was getting a very confident hunch that he wasn't going to like whatever questions Sokka had come up with this time -

“How about your sister, though, I mean - I thought _Katara_ was bad, but uhh..." Sokka trailed off and shuddered, while Katara glared at him, "- but like, did you spend time with Azula at the palace? I can't even imagine what'd be like to hang around with her all day..."

“She’s terrifying!!” Aang agreed, with a familiar look in his eyes that meant he'd definitely met Azula before. 

“You’ve - you’ve met Azula?” Zuko frowned, confused. He tried to wrack his brain on how the kids seemed to know to her - and then suddenly remembered Uncle Iroh mentioning something about the Avatar saving him from Azula - though, to be honest, the most surprising part about that was that the kids had met Azula, and _lived_. 

Sokka seemed to be surprised by that too -

“ _MET HER??_ ” he cried out, “Not only did we meet her MULTIPLE times, but she tried to kill us on _EVERY_ one of those times!!”

“Oh - yeah, she tends to do that --” Zuko said, and shifted uneasily, faced with yet another topic he'd rather not think about.

Katara turned to him, looking like she was genuinely concerned, “Princess Azula has tried to kill you too?”

Zuko scoffed at that, every answer he could think of seemed almost amusing to him - in an extremely bitter, sour way. “Uh, usually not directly - um, well, except maybe a couple of times...” 

"Well, as long as she's not DIRECTLY trying to murder you, I'm sure that's _ALL_ fine then," Sokka rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, umm, that still sounds really bad,” Aang said.

Zuko stared down at his bowl, not wanting to look at the others, "We didn't really get along - well, _ever,_ I guess..." he admitted quietly, “- but she had a couple of friends, and they were there, sometimes...” He cringed when he realized too late how bad it must've sounded that even _Azula_ of all people had gotten friends, but he never did...

He picked at the food with his chopsticks again - it was already getting cold, and while he could've easily re-heated it, he really didn't feel hungry at all. 

Sokka was still humming thoughtfully, which probably meant that he'd thought of more probing questions, and Zuko tensed up again - 

"So, your sister tried to kill you, huh?" Sokka said, and yeah, Zuko hated being right. "And your dad - uh, well, obviously, whatever he did wasn't - _good_ \- but, you're still family, so why'd they want to kill you?" 

Zuko stared at Sokka, the chopsticks he was holding had halted shakily over his bowl.

"What?"

"Why did they try to kill you - did you do something to piss them off?"

"I -- I - uh..."

Now everyone was looking at him, again, and even Toph seemed curious, which meant if he lied to them she'd know at least.

Zuko set down his chopsticks, and stared at his hands, wringing them nervously. It should've been enough already that he had to explain this to Aang, did he really have to tell the rest of them too...

He cleared his throat, but still ended up sounding shaky when he admitted, "Um, I - I wasn't very good at -- uhh, well, I guess - I wasn't very good at anything at all really..."

He was met with silence, and everyone kept looking at him, like they expected him to continue - he didn't, and just glanced uneasily at them.

"And --?" Sokka frowned. 

"What?" Zuko scowled at him.

"Was that it? You weren't good at things? So you didn't murder your sister's favorite pet tigerdillo or -?"

"No!" Zuko said, irritated, "Why do you keep saying I murdered someone!! I didn't do anything like that!"

Sokka shrugged, "I don't know, maybe because it makes WAY more sense than _YOUR_ reason??" 

"But I should've been better at - at - everything --"

Now Toph scoffed loudly too, "Well, if you ask me, that still sounds like a pretty shitty reason to want to kill someone."

"NO, _YOU_ DON'T GET IT!" Zuko stood up abruptly, now thoroughly fed up with all of them, "I'M THE CROWN PRINCE!! I'm _supposed_ to be good at EVERYTHING!! I'm supposed to be talented - and smart - and - and confident - like _Azula_ , but I wasn't and - and I - instead I wasn't good at ANYTHING!!"

"I think you're good at firebending," Aang said with an encouraging smile, "I've already learned a lot from you!"

"Don't patronize me!!" Zuko snapped at him, and Aang flinched back. "You know I'm not a good firebender, anyone could make some flames!! That's children's stuff, that's the first thing you learn!!"

"Okay, okay, sorry," Aang said, "but before I met you I couldn't even make children's flames, you taught me how to make those - and that's important to me."

"Of course you learned them, because it's not me - it's YOU, you're talented!! You could learn a lot from ANYONE!!" Zuko said, incredibly irritated at Aang's naivety about the whole thing. "Everyone in my family knew I wasn't worth _anything!!_ They were always so ashamed of me that there was literally NEVER a time when someone _WASN'T_ trying to get rid of me -"

"Your uncle isn't ashamed of you -" Toph tried to cut in again. 

"Of course he is!! He's just better at hiding it -" Zuko said miserably, and then turned to glare at Aang, gritting his teeth, "And now I'm not just disgracing my family, but betraying _everyone_ in my whole nation by HELPING _THE AVATAR!!_ "

Aang grimaced and squirmed under his furious gaze, which of course resulted in Katara becoming mad and defensive on her friend's behalf.

She stood up too, "Don't you dare blame Aang for this!! You're not betraying anyone except the Fire Lord!! If you help us, you're going to help the -"

"NO, I _DON'T_ want to hear about your war plans again!!" 

Katara crossed her arms with a stormy expression, and Zuko could already hear the lengthy argument forming in her voice -

"Listen -"

"NO, I'M DONE TALKING TO YOU!! ALL OF YOU!! I promised my uncle to help the Avatar learn firebending, and I'm not going to break my promise to him - but I DON'T have to talk to you!! I want you all to LEAVE ME ALONE, _OKAY??_ "

Zuko walked off fuming mad, passing through Sokka's stupid number on the ground, and tried to ignore their heavy stares on his back.

* * *

Aang knew the morning's training session was going to be awkward, but he still resolved to get up at sunrise again.

Zuko had tagged quietly along with him, looking completely withdrawn - and Aang couldn't help feeling downhearted too. He really had been looking forward to being more excited about their training, now that it was going to be so much easier to practise with his own fire... or should've been so much easier.

Aang didn't get any instructions from Zuko this time, so he just decided to practise making more flames to get the hang of it - starting with the small sparks and gradually working towards being able to turn them quickly into proper flames. It wasn't a problem to come up with little exercises on his own, but after doing them for an hour or two, Sokka's countdown numbers kept popping in his mind again. 

Even though he did know how to make fire now, it just seemed pitifully little at this point. In a couple of weeks he should already be good enough with firebending to fight _the Fire Lord_ himself, which still seemed completely impossible to him.

After a while, his anxiety started to get too distracting, and he cautiously went to point out to Zuko that he still hadn't shown Aang a single kata involving fighting moves - or even defensive moves.

Zuko hadn't been paying much attention to him so far. He was sitting by the shadowed cliffside again, and absently played with a little leaf he caught falling in the air. Aang thought he was going to burn it, but then he just let it slowly fall to the ground.

He sighed, and finally answered -

“I don’t have a lot of practise with those. It was a long time ago.”

“But I’m sure you remember something at least!" Aang said encouragingly. "Any basic moves would be enough to get started! And well - uh, what about when, um, you made that fire on the beach - that seemed like it could be pretty useful in a fight!”

“No, it wouldn't!” Zuko said, looking irritated again. “I just lashed out as much as I could, that was firebending out of control..." he looked up at Aang strictly. "In a real fight, you should always be able to control yourself and your firebending.”

"Yeah..." Aang sighed.

Zuko did eventually agree to give him some new exercises, but Aang still spent most of the day learning on his own. At least it was possible to practise without Zuko now that he could finally make his own fire, but it was still worrying...

No one had expected Zuko to come to dinner that evening, and Aang didn't bother him about it either - but when it got dark, he went to see Zuko again, and to his great relief, Zuko did agree to come with him to the same place as the previous night.

This time Aang made the light to lead the way - and now with an already prepared path, it was a lot easier and faster to climb up too. 

After they arrived, Aang hopped around creating starry sparks and flicking them into the air. He tilted his head back and followed the tiny light trails his little sparks had made - they sizzled brightly for a few seconds and then disappeared into the vast and dark sky above them. 

Zuko was sitting silently again, alternating between occasionally glancing at Aang and watching the sky with glazed eyes. He was still making no effort to communicate anything, and Aang was starting to get worried it would continue like this the next day as well.

He went to sit down across Zuko, who looked at him uneasily, but still said nothing. Aang took a deep breath, and lit a proper flame on his palm, still happy that he could do that now - the little fire was pleasantly warm, casting a cozy yellow light around them.

Then he couldn't help himself anymore, and asked -

"Do you hate me because I'm the Avatar?"

Zuko sighed. 

"I don't hate you."

Aang waited, he didn't get a continuation.

"Uh, well, that's good to know, I guess..." He replied shakily, and just about managed to recover the flame which almost went out from his nervous fidgeting. "I'm just - kind of worried, because there's not a lot of time left, and - do you really think I could get good enough at firebending to - uh, to fight against the Fire Lord?"

Zuko gave him a tired look, and sighed, "You're obviously talented, okay - you're good at all the other elements already, and you're going to be good at firebending too. You don't have to worry about that. I'm sure you're going to be fine."

"I'm good because other people help me to be good."

"You'd be good no matter _who_ helped you," Zuko replied irritably. "Look, I get that you're trying to make me feel like I'm a good firebender too, but you don't need to do that, okay? I'm good enough to teach you the basics, and that's it, that was the deal, right?"

"I do want to make you feel better, because I think you're being too harsh on yourself."

Zuko sighed heavily, "Don't think about that, okay. I'm just tired, and I don't hate you."

"You _do_ look really tired." 

Zuko glared at him. 

"No, I just mean you don't have to push yourself for my sake, if you're not feeling well."

"I'm fine."

"No, I don't think you are..."

"I don't know why you're so insistent on this," Zuko said tightly. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of firebending in a few days, and then we're done and you can leave me alone. You don't need me anymore."

Zuko's posture was way too tense again, and Aang could tell this discussion was heading to the same direction as the previous night - but still, he _knew_ that he had to keep them together somehow - which wouldn't happen if Zuko just shut off from him completely.

"But isn't that kind of the problem? Being alone? I think you've been alone for too long, and you probably need other people to feel better."

Zuko stood up, and his eyes were fiery mad again - "Yeah, well, me and _other people_ usually don't mix well!! At best people tolerate me - and at worst, _AND USUALLY IT'S AT WORST_ \- they outright _HATE_ me!! OR TRY TO KILL ME!! So yeah, actually it makes perfect sense that I was locked away and my dad pretended I was dead - ABSOLUTELY NO ONE CARED I WAS GONE!!"

Zuko's voice broke on the last word, and it was painfully obvious that he'd desperately wanted someone to care -- 

"Your uncle cared -"

"My uncle was _fine!!_ He's been helping you all along, hasn't he?? And I know you guys hate me too, _and that's just fine with me!!_ SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE!! So just leave it, concentrate on firebending and STOP TALKING TO ME, _OKAY??_ "

Aang's shoulders slumped, and he watched hopelessly as Zuko walked away from him again. Though, Zuko didn't go far this time, just sat down heavily near the edge of the cliff - staring down at the dark shapes of the winding arid hills below. 

He'd known Zuko for only about a week and a half now, but that had already involved _a lot_ of yelling and uncomfortable arguments, and Aang wasn't sure how to deal with that... He'd met plenty of aggressive firebenders who'd threatened him before - Azula, and Zhao and his soldiers had all attacked him, thrown fire and lightning at him - he'd always just about managed to escape, but it was still terrifying to be faced with that kind of anger. 

But even if it was really uncomfortable, Zuko being angry and yelling loudly at him didn't make Aang feel threatened or scared for his safety _at all_ \--

\- though, he figured it would be best not to say that to Zuko, since he'd probably just assume it was another insult to his firebending skills... 

Aang had no doubt that Zuko was telling the truth about not hating him, but he hadn't realized how much Zuko clearly seemed to hate himself - and it sounded like he was just begging for everyone else to hate him too, even when they didn't... Aang just wasn't sure why that was so important to him, because if he'd been telling the truth about not doing anything bad, it seemed like there was no good reason for Zuko to hate himself so much, or to have been so badly treated. 

The more Aang thought about it, the more he realized _he_ would actually have WAY more reason to hate himself than Zuko - and sometimes he still kind of did --

After all, he didn't think it'd be possible for anyone to screw up worse than failing to protect the entire world for a hundred years, and all because he'd decided to run away after a bad temper tantrum...

But when he tried to imagine asking his friends if they hated him for failing everyone, that scenario ended up in a resounding _no_ \- Katara would immediately reassure him by listing all the good things he'd done, Sokka would tell him he's just being insecure and/or an idiot again, and Toph would probably kick his butt with a rock -- and then Appa would lick him until his clothes got drenched and stinky. His friends had been mad at him and disappointed in him before, but he knew they would _never_ hate him. 

He glanced over at Zuko, who was sitting very still again, silhouetted against the night sky. Instead of the rigid posture he'd had earlier during their training, now his shoulders were sagging under whatever heavy-hearted thoughts were pressing on him.

Aang was sure that there really was no reason for Zuko to think so badly of himself, but he was much less sure about how to tell that to Zuko...

So, for a while, he just listened to the quiet hum of the night, and felt the calming pale glow of the stars and the moon. He was feeling tired as well, but also more hopeful than he'd been in a long time -- maybe it was something the past Avatars were telling him, or some other ancient spiritual wisdom that he wasn't aware of - but he knew that like with his friends, he was in the right place with the right person this time too.

After a long silence, he turned back to Zuko -

"You haven't heard about how I got here, right? I mean, why the Avatar disappeared for a hundred years, and well - now I'm back, but I'm still just a kid."

Zuko glanced over at him. He was silent for a moment, but it seemed curiosity won him over.

"No, no one told me that -"

"Okay, well, I'll tell you," Aang said with a sigh. He'd recounted this before to Katara, Sokka and Toph - and to some others too, so he'd already had plenty of practise condensing his life into a handy summary.

Aang took a deep breath, and told Zuko some bits and pieces about the monks and his childhood at the Southern Air Temple, about the night he ran away - and then being woken up in the iceberg by Katara and Sokka.

"When I woke up, they - they were all gone --" Aang said, and the hand that wasn't holding a fire clenched into a fist on his lap. He had to clear his throat before continuing, "When I went back to the Southern Air Temple - it was empty. No one had lived there for a hundred years..." 

No matter how much time passed by, he still couldn't fully comprehend it yet, and maybe he never would. It was like trying to compress the whole sky into a needle-point, it was just _way_ too huge to fit into his mind.

"I'm sorry -" Zuko said quietly, he was looking at his hands instead of Aang, but he sounded sincere. 

Aang looked over at him, and sighed. "Yeah, I'm really sorry too..."

There really weren't enough words to say how sorry he was. 

Zuko stared at him for a moment, looking frustrated. "Aren't you mad?" he asked, sounding more like _he_ wanted to be mad - Aang wasn't sure for whose sake, though. "Don't you want revenge?"

Aang shook his head grimly, even just that word still felt unpleasantly heavy, "Yeah, I was mad - I was so angry, so angry I can't even tell... But I've always been taught to let go off anger - and I can't bring anyone back. I know they wouldn't want me to destroy myself and others just to get revenge - and I - I could hurt a lot of people in the Avatar state, because I can't control it yet..."

He sighed, feeling very tired, but he didn't want to just concentrate on all the things he had lost - right now it felt more important to share the good parts of his life too, and there had been so many - "But before all this, a hundred years ago when I was growing up in the Southern Air Temple, I had Monk Gyatso - he was kind of like both a teacher and a parent to me. He understood me better than anyone, and we had a lot of fun together. He had such a great sense of humor."

Aang smiled fondly at the memory, and noticed that Zuko had turned to watch him now, he looked as endlessly sad as Aang felt. 

"I miss him so much, but I'm so glad I had someone like Monk Gyatso, and all the other friends I had in the Southern Air Temple, and all the people I knew around the world..." Aang looked sadly up at the distant stars, and then back at the fire he was holding, "- and I think I'm a lot stronger now because of them - so, yeah - they're all probably gone now, but I'll always be really grateful for them all."

He glanced over at Zuko, who was staring at the ground again and still not saying anything.

Aang fidgeted with the flame anxiously, he wasn't sure if this was going to help at all, or just make Zuko turn further away from him - but even if it was difficult, he felt like he needed to do something to reach out to Zuko now, since there may never be another opportunity...

"You know, when I first saw how close Katara and Sokka are to their family and friends - I got really jealous," Aang admitted quietly, "I was afraid that meant they wouldn't need me, and I would lose them too, like I lost everyone else... but even after I got mad and jealous about it, they never left me - Katara and Sokka have been with me the whole time - and then after a while I realized that I'd actually gained more family through them, because their family and friends started to care about me too..."

He trailed off, seeing that his words just seemed to weigh down even more on Zuko's sagged shoulders.

"I wasn't saying all that to make you feel bad," Aang assured him, his voice serious,"- what I wanted to say is that, if you'd had a Monk Gyatso like me, or Hakoda like Katara and Sokka - they would've loved you too. Your uncle loves you. There's nothing wrong with you."

Zuko still didn't lift his head up.

Aang waited silently, while the fire flickered shakily in his nervous hands.

"My dad has always hated me," Zuko finally said in a strangled voice, his head hanging low, "and I - I hated myself, I couldn't imagine anyone who wouldn't..."

Aang took a deep breath, and stood up - "I think your dad probably hates everyone, and I bet that's a really miserable way to exist. I don't think anyone can be genuinely happy by hurting others," he said firmly. "But I don't think you want to hurt anyone. I think it's the opposite - it's that you care - you care a lot, and you've been made to think that you shouldn't... that's what's making you so miserable, isn't it?"

He walked over to Zuko, carrying the small flame on his palm. Zuko lifted his head to stare at the fire.

"I don't hate you, and I don't want you to be miserable, Zuko. Me, and my friends, we all care about you - " Aang said, and Zuko finally looked up enough to face him, " - and if you want, you can care about us too."

Aang offered the flame to him -- Zuko blinked his watery eyes, but then hesitantly accepted it - and somehow the fire immediately seemed to become more alive in his hands.

Aang smiled happily, and bounced on his heels. 

"Sooo, could you teach me those cool firetricks now?"

Zuko looked down at the flame, and smiled a little.

"Yeah, I can."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! All your comments are important to me, and please I would love to hear your thoughts, any time!! <333
> 
> \- and sorry about the heavy chapter, I promise everyone will start to get along A LOT better from now on! :)
> 
> **[sketch on tumblr](https://wirelychee.tumblr.com/post/642163647976751104/ive-been-learning-how-to-use-clip-studio-by) with aang & zuko   
>  **I've been writing another AtLA AU fic (as if there's a shortage of those lol, but at least it's very different from this). I'm not sure whether I'll manage to post that first or update this one, but I'll probably link to it here in case it's relevant to anyone's interests. :)
> 
> ( **eta:** is there still interest in updates for this fic? apologies that the next chapter is late, but i'm working on that! :D i was just wondering if anyone's still reading this...)


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